Blockchain Vibes Academy, a tech-based school that specialises in blockchain technology education, said it planned to create founders that could raise up to $1 million in the next four years.
Speaking in Lagos at the weekend during the International Blockchain Summit and the graduation of Cohort 1 of its scholarship programme, Femi Adegolu, CEO of Blockchain Vibes Academy, said bringing up students who can raise such funds would help in tackling one of Nigeria’s social problems, which is unemployment.
According to him, the academy is looking to create unicorns, which are companies valued at $1 billion or more with the ability to create other economic impacts in Nigeria.
“In the next two to four years, we want to raise founders in the Blockchain Vibes Academy that can raise up to $1 million or more and can also attract foreign direct investment into Nigeria,” he said.
Adegolu further said he was inspired to create the scholarship programme to educate people on Blockchain technology, and to enable them to utilise the opportunity in the space.
“There are massive opportunities for Nigerians, especially in job creation. Most Nigerians are exposed to fraud because they are jobless. Instead of venturing into fraud, we can harness their talents and potential into doing the right thing in the space. They can create products and services using Blockchain technology,” he said.
On the adoption of cryptocurrency in Nigeria, Adegolu said it is through the education sector that blockchain experts can drive the adoption in Nigeria.
He added that Nigeria is presently looking for common ground because the introduction of e-naira and other digital currency shows that Nigeria is gradually getting to that stage where they will adopt Blockchain and cryptocurrency in full.
Presenting a paper on ‘the Future of Digital Transformation,’ Folasade Adefisayo, commissioner of Education Lagos State, said Nigeria must educate students for the life they will live because they need to develop the skills needed to be successful.
According to her, Nigeria needs to re-access its educational system, which is why Lagos is encouraging vocational and technical education in Events Management, Agric, Fashion, and Construction among others to create jobs and wealth.
Adefisayo said that research has shown that Blockchain is a technology that is revolutionary and will change the way business is done, school is run and how the government is run in Nigeria.
While urging the graduates to take advantage of the knowledge acquired to do great things, she said the coming of Blockchain technology has shown that the future is going to be completely different from today.
Citing an example of how Blockchain technology can help a country, Rachael Akalia, West Africa’s regional manager at Yellow Card, said the recently concluded 2023 general election in Nigeria could have had better outcomes with Blockchain technology and it would also enable international remittances.
She lamented that the government had failed to see the potential of Blockchain technology which is why it termed it a Ponzi scheme which is not.
She said that there was a need for more education to drive the understanding of the technology because the use of the technology will get to a time when is either people join or get missing in action.
