• Thursday, March 28, 2024
businessday logo

BusinessDay

Technology based public private partnerships will transform Nigeria’s fortune – SystemSpecs

DSC_8971
Indigenous fintech and human capital management company, SystemSpecs, has entreated private organisations to effectively collaborate with governments at all levels to expedite the growth of the country.
Speaking at the conclusion of the Abuja version of the two-week long Remita Summer Coding Camp on Friday, Executive Director of the company, Deremi Atanda urged private stakeholders to take the initiative and develop programmes that can aid the advancement of the nation.
According to him, the inaugural Remita Summer Coding Camp was designed to bequeath secondary school students with requisite coding skills to thrive in the future workplace and stimulate national capacity development.
Atanda opined that with the projected future jobs leaning heavily towards technology-based skills, it is imperative to instill the necessary skills in the next generation at a foundational level in order to give them a proper head start on their counterpart across the globe.
‘’What we are doing now is a direct intervention, just like the Lagos State Government did with its technology programmes for students because it has the apparatus. Once this is done, it will build capacity to address the limited school curriculum that does not make enough provision for inculcating technology skills. So, what we are doing at this stage is direct intervention, working with people in the ecosystem who already have curriculum, NGOs and private organisations and financing that.
“We are pro-Nigeria; we believe Nigeria has what it takes to compete globally but government cannot solve all the problems. We think it is up to players in the private sector to consciously and conscientiously support government. Government may not always get it right and we must not stop at criticising, but we must also find ways to complement whatever government is doing,’’ he said.
The Executive Director pointed out that, SystemSpecs remains resolute in its bid to promote Nigeria and ensure that the nation takes its rightful place at the zenith of the African technology space. SystemSpecs, he stated, participates in a number of innovative activities geared at guaranteeing skilled manpower for the country in the coming years. He maintained that the ultimate objective of the company’s CSR activities is to equip the next generation with a plethora of exportable technology skills that will inevitably transform them into proud ambassadors of the country across the world.
‘‘The whole idea behind the coding camp is to develop indigenous technology capacity in Nigeria right from the early days, making it a way of life. Today we just consume technology as a commodity, we do not manufacture which makes us less competitive and the thriving global economies are knowledge based. Our company is about 30 years, it is entirely indigenous, and all the skills are Nigerian. It may interest you to know today that there is skill migration especially in the tech space because tech skills can be compensated at higher rates in knowledge economies where they are recognised. We believe in the future of a glorious Nigeria where the average Nigerian child believes in solving national problems as a priority.’’ he remarked.
Meanwhile, Non-Executive Director of SystemSpecs and Former Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe commended SystemSpecs on the initiative, stating that the impact exceeds expectation and entreated the company to persist at it. ‘’I think in one word, it is excitement, the reason being that Nigeria needs to develop talents from very early age. That is why I decided to come personally to witness it first hand, to interact with the young people and get a feel on how they are coping with this kind of activity at a very young age and you needed to be there when I was interviewing them. One of them just seven years old was very clear about what she learnt during this period. So, it gives me hope and gets me even excited for the future of our country. Therefore, I will like to commend SystemSpecs for this initiative of catching them young and helping to develop local manpower in Nigeria,’’ he said.
By the same token, Dr. Ndukwe entreated other private sector stakeholders to advance national development by emulating SystemSpecs on such programmes. According to Dr. Ndukwe: “There are a number of private sector initiatives in this regard, there are organisations hosting summer camps of this nature for young people and I think it should be encouraged and whatever needs to be done as encouragement from government should be given. One will wonder what kind of impact such CSR activities from SystemSpecs and a few others, will make considering the enormous challenges in getting what’s needed for a technology driven country, technology driven in security sector, economy driven by technology.’’
The Remita Summer Coding Camp featured participants from over 20 schools across 10 states of the country plus the Federal Capital Territory. The camp which was organised in both Lagos and Abuja comprised of exciting programmes such as web fundamentals, robotics, animation, game design to name a few.