Obafemi Awolowo University and Paradigm Initiative Nigeria Partner For ICT Innovation in Africa

When you hear names of Billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Dustin Moskovitz, Yoshikazu Tanaka, well you say to yourself the reason their Tech start ups are as successful is because these individuals come from an organized society and have access to world class Education.

Currently, 8.9% of Billionaires on the Forbes 500 are under 40, 2.2%are 35 and younger, 45% are from Tech industry and of those 40 and younger, 25% are from the Tech industry. Interesting statistics! There is something special in Tech. Despite the odds however we have some Nigerians and Africans who have broken out of that mold, problems that plague Nigeria besides bad leadership, lack of human capital development, unemployment and underfunding of the Education sector.

The unemployment rate is on the high at 24.9% and only about 10% of graduates get decent jobs, the others run a rat race in a bid to meet their basic needs. There is a noted lack of expertise in most  sectors especially in Tech, people are too busy to develop themselves personally and there is inadequate skills acquisition programs in our schools and workplaces, students studying computer and engineering courses are taught only theory and have no access to put to practice all they have learned.

Paradigm Initiative Nigeria is trying to change all that, PIN is a social enterprise that connects Nigerian youth with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) opportunities; with specific concerns about the ill effects of unemployment and cybercrime, among other vices that limit the potential contribution of young Nigerians to the nation’s economy. PIN has worked with government, civil society, private institutions and international organizations including the United Nations, PIN has set standards in ICT education, telecenter support, ICT applications in rural areas, and other ICT interventions in Nigeria. PIN’s projects include Ajegunle.org; Internet Safety, Security and Privacy Initiative for Nigeria {ISSPIN} and TENT.