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Nigeria's new IT youth ambassador is Mr. Edward Popoola. He won the
second edition of the Most Promising Web Developer Contest. Mr. Gbenga
Sesan has since handed over to him. However, a formal Investiture
ceremony will be put together by a committee yet to be appointed.
New: Download The
National IT Policy
NIGERIAN YOUTH DECLARATION ON
THE WSIS!!!!!
1.0 Introduction
This declaration is an outcome of the National Youth Consultation
process, tagged "Policy Train" which held in Port Harcourt, Kano and
Lagos between the 11th and 22nd of October 2003 and was co-ordinated
by the Nigerian Youth Coalition on ICTs. One hundred and thirteen
(113) young Nigerians participated in the process, along with over two
hundred (200) members of the Zaura Babba community of Kano state.
2.0 Preamble
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is an initiative of
the United Nations. It seeks to provide a framework for governments,
non-government organizations and associations, companies and others.
Between the African regional meeting in Bamako and the final
preparatory committee meeting in Geneva, Nigerian youths took active
roles in the entire process. Through this declaration, we choose to
lend our voice to the emergence and conscious establishment of an
equitable Information Society that focuses on people and development
above technology and profit.
3.0 Participants of the Consultation Process:
3.1 Recognizing:
Ø That Nigeria holds high potentials within the global Information
Society,
Ø That Nigeria's youth must take appropriate action in order to
safe-guard their future,
Ø The need for Nigeria's youth to get more involved with national
level processes within the Information Society,
Ø The need for government, civil society, academia, private sector and
special interest groups to collaborate on efforts that can deliver
Nigeria's Information Technology vision.
3.2 Endorsing:
Ø ITU Africa 2001 Youth (Forum) Declaration, Johannesburg. November
2001,
Ø The Bamako 2002 Declaration - African preparatory meeting to the
WSIS, Bamako. May 2002,
Ø The WSIS Youth Africa eConference Final Statement. November 2002,
Ø WSIS Youth Caucus Statements to PrepCom 1,2 and 3, Geneva. July 2002
- September 2003,
Ø Report of Nigeria PrepCom hosted by the National Information
Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and attended by all Nigerian
Information Society stakeholders.
3.3 Made the following recommendations:
Ø The need to empower and include youth in national level processes
must be pursued to ensure that today's efforts provide the foundation
for a sustainable future,
Ø Awareness on the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)
- and the role of such in national development - must be embarked upon
as a matter of national urgency,
Ø Since the barrier of ownership remains for majority of the
population, access to ICTs must be top priority for government, the
private sector and all stakeholders,
Ø ICTs are major tools for national development, and Nigeria must
embrace and take advantage of this opportunity in order to remain
relevant in the emerging information society.
4.0 Declaration
Having considered the aforementioned, along with the opportunities
that are provided by commitment to the goals of the United Nations
Millennium Declaration Goals (MDGs) and the New Partnership for
Africa's Development (NEPAD), we realise that the future of Nigeria
and its relevance in the Information Society depend on the commitment
of all stakeholders in the present; and in recognition of this, we
commit our resources to the accelerated involvement of our nation in
the global Information Society. We invite all to do the same.
Dream IT Seminar!!
Its happening again at LAUTECH. The Intellectual Group (TIG) club
is organizing a program tagged Dream IT Seminar
that will take place come January 2004. According to the President of the
club, Intellect Rotimi, speakers at the program include Mr. Gbenga
Sesan and Mr. Edward Popoola, Nigeria's IT Youth Ambassador.
YOUTH COALITION FOR ICTs TO MAKE DECLARATION IN LAGOS.
A synergy of Youth Clubs and Associations which have common ICT development objectives have emerged in the name of Nigerian Youth Coalition on ICTs. The Coalition recently engaged in a cross-country campaign on ICT applications during which they provided awareness workshops for children and secondary school students in Kano, PortHarcourt and Lagos using NITDA's Mobile Internet Unit. The activities
was rounded up with a Youth declaration on WSIS which took place at THE EXECUTIVE CYBERSCHUUL , Lagos on Tuesday November 11 at 10.00am.
Principal activists of the Coalition include Tope Oketunji, President of National Association of Computer Science Students, NACOSS; Gbenga Sesan, Immediate Past IT Youth Ambassador and Tope Soremi of WANGONet.
YOUTH COALITION GETS SUPPORT OF WANGONeT
West African NGO Network, WANGONeT, an NGO with offices in Victoria Island, Lagos has provided office and secretarial facilities for the newly formed Nigerian Youth Coalition on ICT's.
WANGONet's Tope Soremi told CYBERSCHUULNEWS that his organisation will also assist the coalition with other logistics that may be required to make their contribution to the works of World Summit of Information Society, WSIS in December meaningful.
HISTORY of The MOST PROMISING WEBSITE DEVELOPER competition
The MOST PROMISING WEBSITE DEVELOPER competition is an initiative of
THE EXECUTIVE CYBERSCHUUL, Nigeria's Premier Institute for
Executive Management Training in Telecommunications and Information
Technology. The competition gives direct meaning to the Institute's
Youth Development Program. The first edition of the competition was
flagged off in May 2001 while the winner emerged on October 1, 2001.
The first winner was Mr. Gbenga Sesan who reigned as Nigeria's IT
Youth Ambassador for 2001 – 2003. To earn the position, Gbenga
designed the then Website of THE EXECUTIVE CYBERSCHUUL and, by the
ground rules of the competition, maintained it throughout his reign.
Since its first upload in October 2001, the site was updated weekly
and its structure and content were been changing largely on the
initiative of the Ambassador.
Mr. Gbenga Sesan, in the course of his reign and in direct compliance
with the dictates of his responsibilities, provided lectures, seminars
and training materials to about 3500 Nigerian youths of diverse
grades, backgrounds and vocations. He, entirely on his own merit, also
earned sponsorship of other International Agencies especially the
International Telecommunications Union, ITU, and ACP, to participate
in seminars on ICT related themes within Nigeria and also in Mali,
Switzerland, and Ethiopia.
The investment made on Gbenga in the course of meeting the objectives
of the competition and of implementing the Youth Development Program
has been worth every Naira.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of the competition and indeed of the Youth Development
Program is to sensitise Nigerian Youths in the applications of
Information and Communications Technology and especially in Web
Applications. Ever since oil was discovered in Nigeria, the country
seemed to have subordinated the competence of its professionals to 'contractocracy';
a contract culture. The problem is rarely discussed, remains largely
unidentified, let alone confronted so much that every professional
carried on as if there was a government contract to benefit from and
everybody trained only to either work in Government or for Government,
albeit in the spirit of sharing in a cake which the birth of oil
imposed on the country. While Nigeria boasts of some of the best
products in virtually every profession, its governments, all without
exception, had consistently carried on as if those who would solve the
nation's problems must come from among outsiders. It is least
pronounced in the humanities while it becomes chronic in science,
engineering and technology.
Things cannot continue like that and Nigeria has to produce, identify
the competences, and use its own citizens for true development to be
realised. That is the Challenge of THE EXECUTIVE CYBERSCHUUL and is
the inspiration behind the Youth Development Programme which seeks to
change the orientation of our youths from one of a 'contract culture'
to a new one which is inspired by the applications of Information and
Communications Technology. The competition would also have, just as it
has in the past years, demonstrated that the best can come from within
Nigeria. Gbenga Sesan was the guy to beat until Edward Popoola came
along.
PROFILE OF
GBENGA SESAN
'Gbenga Sesan was the former Nigeria's Information Technology Youth
Ambassador. He is a Youth Fellow (Africa 2001) of the International
Telecommunications Union, a recipient of the Frontiers of Technology
in Nigeria award and the Ten Outstanding Great Ife Alumni (TOGA)
award. He holds a Diploma in Software Application, a Certificate from
Junior Achievement of Nigeria and Lagos Business School's Venture in
Management Programme and a Bachelor of Science in Electronic and
Electrical Engineering.
His career objective is to build an efficient, impacting and
world-class career in eCommerce; in the areas of Consulting, National
Development & Global Participation, Training and Deployment; through
Personal Development, Team Work and Corporate Synergy.
'Gbenga is an author of various Information Technology seminar papers
and articles, which have been published by national dailies and on
international organizations' websites. He has presented papers at
national seminars, he (along with another youth fellow) represented
Nigeria in the last African ITU Youth Forum and has been interviewed
and featured by various media houses including This Day newspaper, The
Comet newspaper, The Punch newspaper, Insider Weekly magazine, Tribune
newspaper, Daily Champion newspaper, Daily Times newspaper, Vanguard
newspaper, Financial Standard, IT & Telecom Digest magazine, Nigerian
Television Authority (NTA), Africa Independent Television (AIT), Murhi
International Television (MiTV), Voice of Nigeria (VON), AllAfrica.com,
West Africa Magazine, CNN Inside Africa and the British Broadcasting
Corporation (Go Digital).
'Gbenga's present research work focuses on Youth Bridging the Digital
Divide. He founded an initiative called Paradigm Initiative Nigeria
and is involved in the Global Library project (www.globallibrary.org)
as the Director for the African Region. One of his past projects
involved the presentation of a memorandum (sponsored by The Executive
Cyberschuul and supported by other youths from Nigeria, Kosovo, Zambia
and Gambia) at the Senate Committee on Science and Technology's public
hearing on Information and Communications Technology, a project which
received the commendation of Philip Emeagwali.
PROFILE OF
EDWARD
POPOOLA
Edward Popoola is a Brainbench certified HTML 3.2 writer and a
certified Computer fundamentalist. He holds a diploma in Computer
Technology from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife. He is into
website designing and web programming. He is a member of and webmaster
for Paradigm Initiative Nigeria, an ICT4D youth led initiative.
Edward attended D'alfred Nursery and Primary School, Bodija Ibadan. He
proceeded to Methodist Grammar School, Ibadan too and to Okeho/Iganna
Grammar School, Okeho, Oyo State where he eventually bagged his
Secondary school Leaving Certificate. Presently, he is a student of
Computer Engineering at "Great Ife!", Obafemi Awolowo University
Ile-Ife in Osun State Nigeria.
On the July 28th publication of New-Age Newspaper Edward was
interviewed and featured in the e-wiz column of the newspaper where he
talked generally about Information Technology, the projects he has
handled and the one he is still handling.
Edward believes in Personal Development as a remedy to the shortage of
IT skills in our society. Today, he is proud to be associated with
people like Gbenga Sesan (Nigeria's IT youth Ambassador), Roland Ukor
(IT Whiz kid) and others who have distinguished themselves as capable
through personal development.
Edward Popoola won the second Edition of Cyberschuul's Most
Promising Web Developer Competition which confers on him the position
of Nigeria's Information Technology Youth Ambassador.
He says he sees it as an opportunity to serve and
to contribute his own quota to the spread of the Information Technology gospel across the African continent.
FAQ ON CYBERSCHUUL'S MOST PROMISING WEB DEVELOPER COMPETITION, MPWDC
Question 1: Please tell me about the Competition and its purpose.
Answer : Answer was given in past edition [CYBERSCHUULNEWS 100503-89]
Question 2 :Can someone who is not receiving CYBERSCHUULNEWS also
participate in the competition? Or can I register my friend, so that he
can take part in the competition?
Answer Answer was given in past edition [CYBERSCHUULNEWS 160503-90]
Question 3: In the Rules and Guidelines, you talk about web-site and
web-portal. What do you mean?
Answer : Answer was given in past edition [CYBERSCHUULNEWS 230503-91]
Question 4: What will the nature of assessment at the competition be?
Answer: Answer was given in past edition [CYBERSCHUULNEWS 030603-93]
Question 5 : Is it true that at 25, July 14, 2003, I do not qualify to
contest? Is it also true that the Award price is now more than
N100,000.00?
Answer : Answer was given in past edition [CYBERSCHUULNEWS 060603-94]
Question 6 :
Apart from the winner's Award, any other price?
Answer :
The 3 highest scorers will be reimbursed for their direct cost expenses
on participation in this competition. Contestants should therefore
submit details of such expenses along with their design. Statement of
expenses submitted after submission of design may not be accepted for
refund purposes [Rule 30]
To participate in the competition, ask for the Rules and Guidelines
from tec@cyberschuul.com
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Group picture after a youth seminar
'Gbenga Sesan
Edward Popoola
FAQ about MPWDC
Watch Out !
Cyberschuul to start profiling outstanding youths
A group picture with youths representatives
Gbenga making a presentation |
