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IT
And Telecom Should Be Made A Tax-Free Sector |
Story
by Franca Enegbeta |
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You
cannot develop what you don't have; you
cannot give what you don't have. Hence my
task is defined along this line as I have
to develop the business which already exists
and that calls for clarity of purpose, right
focus and intelligence”. These were
the words of Mr. Chrysantus Okon, deputy
general manager for TTC Mobile, an IT Training
institute.
Giving a little background of the institute,
Okon said TTC mobile is a prolific Nigerian
company with a customized idea of how to
deliver copy age global content curricular
module to enhance productivity. In addition,
he said TTC offers comprehensive packages
curricula that are built on a client's preferred
specialty like understanding networking
fundamentals, troubleshooting, telecommunication
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fundamentals,
GSM, radio and switching, VoIP design and implementation,
VSAT and satellite communication, CCNA and many
more. TTC to him is proud to be a Nigerian company
because both the management and trainers are all
Nigerians with support from foreign partners so
as to have a comparative standard and to exchange
ideas because no one is a repository of knowledge.
On what led to the establishment
of such an indigenous company, Okon was quick
to explain that TTC was the brain work of Engineer
Akin Aregbesola, a post graduate IT trainee of
Robert Gordon University, UK whose passion for
training and contributing his own quota to the
nation's IT and Telecom sector has no equal.
According to him, it was these
attributes that prompted the establishment of
TTC Mobile. The founder he said believes in the
popular saying that “trainers touch eternity”.
So when he sees the quantum of trainees we turn
out, how they gain employed elsewhere, he felt
delighted. And that is why he does not bother
about any other thing other than training because
that is how to impact knowledge and increase local
content which Nigeria often cries for.
“We see an angle to
give IT and Telecom scholarship which will encourage
mass qualification, certification and training,
enabling development on local content and increase
employability and also enlarge the vicinity of
IT and Telecom such that the nation is IT sensitized.
So we offer IT and Telecom customized training”.
He added that they are also
in the business to make significant contribution
to the development of manpower for the ICT and
allied industries both locally and globally, as
well as empowering Nigerian youths for employment
and business opportunities in the telecom industry.
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According
to him, “Nigerians have not benefited
from globalization reason being that they
are training people who can quote the law
of physics without practicalzing it. But with
TTC concept they can now apply the knowledge
in electronics, ICT, physics among others
so as to drive the economy. The knowledge
economy cannot progress until the knowledge
itself is applied in equilibrium in different
fields. “Our training is not restricted,
a leader must have followership. People read
your magazine not because they want to buy
but because they want to get knowledge, message
and information contained in your magazine.
So, if they don't buy the others, then they
are not leaders. |
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we claim to be leaders in our own right because
we train for companies and do not limit the idea
of training. In any business, until value is added,
you have not done anything. If we have not scheduled
this interview, people wouldn't get to know TTC's
idea on local contents”.
He went further to add, “That is why we
say that knowledge has become the fifth factor
of production different from what we learnt in
school. Now its either you know what to do or
not. That is training for total Nigerian ready
for the 21st century market place which will not
accommodate complacency. And we are glad to say
that we are ready to take the world to that stage
of development”.
On the other hand, he stressed
that most Nigerians feel that when they buy one
cell phone or the other, then you have become
IT compliant, not knowing it's a responsibility
because over 70 per cent of one's salary is spent
maintaining this phone. He therefore, suggested
the redefining of ICT in Nigeria, as it is the
platform upon which the economy could be reformed.
“It is bad enough that most Nigerian companies
import expatriates to install and maintain their
equipment. Let the NCC and the National Assembly
do a thorough review and redefine the concept
of how to do ICT and encourage the populace by
making IT and telecom a tax-free sector because
a country without trained manpower is in chaos.
“When we talk of ICT,
we are talking of what is driving the economy.
If we are short of trained manpower in IT, there
will be stagnation in all aspects of the economy.
Because when your computer crashes, you loose
data and this data could be very important information.
We need competently trained certified hands to
put this computer in order because one trained
staff as a wizkid can rectify the problems.”
Okon added that low mentality
and short cut syndrome are Nigeria's biggest challenges.
“You see a situation where a Bsc holder
wants to work but the practicability to make him
employable is absent. One can only be employable
when he is taught to use his hands and use his
knowledge to proffer solution to practical issues.
In actual employment, it's not what you are thinking
that matters; it is what you can do. So we are
trying to bring about a tradition where our people
submit themselves for practical training. With
this achieved, we can safely boast of crossing
the first hurdle in developing local contents
as it is very important to the nation's economy
development”.
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Local
content, he stated is where a Nigerian graduating
trainee, trained by a Nigerian trainer is
capable of proffering solution which would
have otherwise been provided by a non Nigerian,
costing capital, and resulting in coming
in instead of going out.
He described it as a
situation where Nigerians buy ICT equipment
from Europeans, get them installed by Europeans,
troubleshooted and maintained by Europeans,
integrated by Europeans, and configured
by the same Europeans. This means that if
there is a fault, everybody has to remain
off work till a European is brought in to
remedy the situation. |
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“I
just wrote a proposal to the Nigeria Police to
train with TTC and one will wonder what ICT has
to do with the Police. A lot, there is chaos in
the Niger Delta, mass robbery attack in one part
of the nation or the other and other criminal
vices due to unemployment. Solving the problem
of productivity which is the essence of employment,
we first of all train leaders which will help
train characters, because quoting Arthur Freedman,
“wealthy men are envied, geniuses are admired
and men of character are trusted.
“So you see that it is only
the trusted that can make an impact. So, we want
the Nigerian Police to train with us to acquire
this leadership ability and also get trained on
the use of surveillance to monitor borders and
track criminals”.
The TTC deputy general manager
believed that with time, the dream of making Nigerians
appreciate their roots will be achieved. “We
start winning by winning small. We cannot win over
the whole Nigerians in a day. Once we get to the
level where corporate bodies can appreciate IT and
invest in IT training, then we are making headway.
Let's stop seeing education from the perspective
of being the school “to know” and not
the school “to do”. Knowledge has no
culture, no colour, and no boundary; it is universal.
So, our people should be appreciated to complement
the fact that they are marketable”. |
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| Disable
persons must have access to ICT tools- UN |
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At
the wake of the new century, the United
Nations had among its list of development
priorities, the challenge to coordinate
global efforts to help the world communicate
in the age of cyberspace. The UN working
through and recognizing the strength of
the international Telecommunications Union
ITU set out in 2003 to organize the world
summit on information society putting in
mind the importance of sharing reflections,
ideas, experience and building awareness
on the value of ICT.
Among the numerous agreements, the United
Nations proclaimed May 17th, as the world
information day, endorsed by the UN General
Assembly with the first observance in May
2006. Yet, the reach of communications technology
has not been universal; its benefits have
not been shared equally. The World Summit
on the Information Society(WSIS) held in
Geneva in 2003 and Tunis in 2005,
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linked information
and technology with human development and called on member
states to build a global “inclusive, people-centered,
and development-oriented information society” through
the sharing of information and knowledge. This summit
also urged member states to address the special requirements
of persons living with disability and other vulnerable
groups.
In keeping with the tradition of bridging this global
digital divide, secondary school students and people from
all works of life gathered at the United Nations Information
Centre in Lagos on May 22, 2008, to mark this year's occasion
with the theme: Connecting Persons with Disabilities.
In a special message by the UN Secretary General, Mr.
Tetsuo Ohno, Director, United Nations Information Centre,
Lagos, said that the theme of this years observance highlights
the importance of making information and communications
technology equipment and services accessible to meet the
needs of persons with disabilities which he said have
an estimate of 650 million worldwide.
He enjoined all member states to change attitude and approach
to persons with disabilities, and ensure that all fundamental
rights and freedom are honoured, including the right to
fully participate in the information society, and bring
forth input, ideas and efforts from the disability community.
This, he said, is a significant development challenge,
“we must find creative solutions including the development
of new assistive technologies, and facilitate broader
access to information and communications technology. I
urge policy makers and industry leaders to accelerate
scientific and technical research aimed at developing
technologies that will be inclusive and accessible to
all”.
He urged all member states to adhere to the guiding principles
of the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities,
and work together to connect all humankind equally to
the present opportunities and those possible in the ever
evolving world. |
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In the same
vein, Nosa Osazuwa, National Information Officer,
UNIC, stressed that the observance would help to
take into account the realities of the new millennium,
within a rapidly evolving global world, where information
and communication aided by the digital revolution
can and must be made available to all to build a
people-centred and knowledge- based information
society that will help accelerate the pace of development.
According to him, the intention of commemorating
World Information Society day was to focus global
attention annually on reaching the |
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enormous
benefits of the digital revolution in information and
communication technologies to all humanity. Osazuwa stressed
that being aware that the country can no longer underestimate
the capacity of these technologies to reduce many traditional
obstacles, especially those of time and distance; she
must accept and use the potentials for the benefit of
millions of people in all corners of the world.
The UN, he said, is committed to realizing the common
vision of the information society for future generations
as it recognizes that young people are the future workforce
and leading creators and earliest adopters of ICTs.
“They must therefore be empowered as learners, developers,
contributors, entrepreneurs and decision makers and ensure
that ICT applications and operation of services respect
the rights of children as well as their protection and
well-being.
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Why
Key Learning Solution Is Sponsoring IT competition Among Schools
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With the world already
a global village prior to the advent of IT, many private institutions
heads and corporate executives who have visited the foreign
shores are getting concerned and projecting means to create
more awareness in Nigeria where most of the populace still
view IT training as a programme for the matured minds, for
entertainment and for relaxation. They are now contributing
their own quota to ICT development by organizing IT programmes
with the aim of catching them young.
One of such institutions is Key Learning Solution, an educationally
based organization that aims to bring about a transformation
in Nigeria's ICT sector through the organization of annual
inter-schools IT competitions.
IT training manager for Key Learning Solutions, Mr. Stanley
Oseji said they went into the programme to see how to get
schools make use of computers. “I went into a school
and asked if there was anything like an IT teacher and the
response was, “no, what is ICT”? Some that have
these ICT gadgets see them as monuments. And I am sure years
down the line, these students might have the opportunity to
travel abroad and they will definitely be lagging behind.”
Oseji stated that the aim of the competition was to make sure
that schools are making use of their computers. “If
they are not, we will be able to tell the schools the importance
of these things. Students should be introduced to the use
of the computer; students should be able to maximize the use
of these applications. Many secondary school students use
the computer just to send email, browse, chat, or to watch
cartoon network, whereas there are more to the use of the
Internet than they know. So, we actually wanted to see how
many schools are getting to maximize and utilize this”.
He said they hope to use these competitions to create awareness
and encourage student to use it to aid their learning. “For
instance”, he said, “if the Mathematics teacher
comes in and teaches mathematics, after the class, a student
should be able to go online and get online simulations for
mathematics, or chemistry or biology and by next class, he
should be able to relate well in the said topic or even get
to do assignments online. We are here to encourage this not
just in the tertiary but in the primary and secondary level”.
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Key Learning,
he said, was established as a result of looking critically
into the educational sector of Nigeria. “We know
that a lot has been said about education standard falling
and not meeting up with international standard. As such,
some of our students who left here to study abroad have
deficiencies in certain areas. So, since we have adequate
professionals on board who have had wealth of experience
both here and outside the shores of Nigeria when it comes
to education, we should be able to draw from their own
pool of experience to aid the Nigeria educational sector
as a whole, both at the primary, secondary and tertiary
level. |
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“This is to
bring adequate improvement, because apart from the normal
school curriculum, there are certain skills that are necessary
which our students who have the opportunity to travel abroad
don't have for instance, critical thinking skills”.
According to him, lots of our students here don't know how
to adequately think things through when it comes to issues
while others are lacking in the area of adequate research
skills. “They don't know how to search and use research
materials. All they know is the use of email. We are talking
about using the Internet to do thorough research and searching
out information in no time. And package the information so
that people outside will not be able to penetrate. This is
what students abroad do because right from the primary level,
these skills are already imbibed in them”.
Oseji said they train the students and also train the IT
personnels to be effective in these areas and teach them how
to best train their students compared to the roadside computer
training schools that don't really do it with a hands-on approach.
“They don't really make such applications relevant to
the duties of such personnels. There are some persons who
learnt computers years ago but ask them how that corresponds
or tally with the job they do on a daily basis, nothing, so
there is a missing link. There is no connection between the
jobs, the training they have done, and the job they are doing.
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“So what
Key Learning helps to do is to bridge the gap between
the training that they have done and their job experience
on daily basis. By the time we are able to bridge this
connection, there will no longer be anything like, “oh
we learnt these thing months ago but I no longer remember
it”. So we are trying to create awareness to make
the public know that we are out there to train them
on things that can be relevant to their job”.
An executive partner of Key Learning Solutions,
Dr Modupe Irele said the IT institute is a branch in
Nigeria as |
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they have other
partners abroad. “We are actually a branch in Nigeria
as we have other outlets in the United States. We are also
into Programmes, collective training for teachers, IT training,
professional development training, and we also do computer
training for organizations”.
Key Learning, according to her, is also into
helping with student's admission in the United States, for
school leavers who want to study abroad. “We help them
prepare for the international test like SAT, Taofl, GRE, GMAT
etc and also help them gain admission”.
Speaking on the standard of Nigerian school curriculum, Dr
Irele described it as stale. “It is no longer relevant
when it comes to education worldwide. By the time we get up
on the Internet, we hook up and get to rub mind with other
curricular of other countries, then we can draw from their
own experience.
“Weeks ago, I tried working on a schools
curriculum but I was not making headway, so I just went to
the net and got what I needed from an overseas curriculum
which I eventually used to improve the curriculum on the school
I was working on. So, we borrow their own idea and see how
we can incorporate it into the curriculum we are working on”.
Heaping commendations on the organizers of the
event, Dr. Irele said “This is actually the first programme
in the competition and we believe that as we progress, the
awareness will be created and we will be able to penetrate
schools and encourage them to woo their teachers to participate
in the competitions.
The competition which had three schools compete
saw Vivian Fowler Memorial School for Girls, coming first,
followed by Queens College Sabo, Yaba and Trinity International
College coming second and third place respectively.
The winner went away with mp4 audio and video
for each of the students that participated, 2nd place students
went with ipod video each while third place students went
home with mp3 player with flash each. |
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