Introdcution:

In quest of searching for answers, I went to Africa’s Youth Entrepreneurs(A.Y.E) Headquarters at Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria. It was an awesome time there, learning from great minds like Asiwaju Olubunmi Oluwadare and Paul Ogunedo.

Paul Ogunedo (Head of Operations) at A.Y.E West Africa office V.I, asked me why can’t the Tech Guys in Nigeria come up with solutions that will transform the nation. Also, He(Paul) feels techies in Nigeria are not doing well enough and that’s why he isn’t pleased with techies, and that was why he transferred it to me somehow.

Because according to him, we have a lot to do and we are not doing much. He also believes that techies have the power to transform the nation, but the fact that the country is struggling means that they aren’t doing enough.

I gave him my opinion on the subject matter, explaining the challenges and why things aren’t as they seem and the extreme techies in Nigeria have gone in Nigeria. As a techie and UX Designer, I can hit my chest and say Nigerians have gone way far in the tech space, bridging the gap in technology, both in research and development.

So I had a talk with Owanate Ruth Amachree about the question Paul asked me, to gain more insight. Here is a detail of Ruth.

Name: Ruth Owanate Amachree Technical Writer and Blockchain User Researcher Here is her take on Paul’s Question.

Ruth:

Godwin Jimmy raised this issue some time ago, my response is let’s try to solve our local problems, this drive to profer solutions to local problems is what leads to global acknowledgement. We can’t continue to receive hand-me-downs from foreigners when we have the intellectual capacity to bring Nigeria to the forefront globally.

Louis:

Well said.

Louis:

But do you think we are not vibing enough?

Ruth:

The first thought that comes to the mind of a tech entrepreneur is how to hit it “big” with their “awesome solution” but how is that solution impacting people before impacting your pocket? Ruth: Let’s solve more problems that affect social impact, those ideas are what the world is looking for, generate tech ideas around the coronavirus, education, homeless people, climate change these things are what bring you to the forefront globally.

Ruth:

The pipeline explosion for example, how can we use technology to generate the data of lives affected in that area, we lack quality data in Nigeria. The lack of data is one of the reasons why we aren’t solving meaningful problems. If there is data on the occupants of that area with technology it shouldn’t take long to determine the affected people, cause the of the problem, etc

Louis:

Collecting data is the difficult part I agree, but we tend to rely on Google to give us data, Google has limits whereas getting domestic data here in the state. Looking at the fact that our system isn’t powered by tech and we are not in a networked ecosystem. Whereby all agencies and bodies are coexisting.

Louis:

How then can we make such a system, without the support from the government?

Louis:

Thereby making data easy to get…

Ruth:

Exactly, we know we can’t wait for the government to give us access to collect these data because the same data would implicate them.

Louis:

That’s true

Ruth:

So we could look at developing solutions, apps that could make people volunteer to give out this information the way we’re willingly giving out our data to Google and Facebook, social apps that would require people to willingly submit their work data, school results, household expenses, salary information, etc. For example, if it’s an app to determine the unemployment rate and connect unemployed people to companies, go the extra mile to request data around a location, course of study, etc, knowing the value of such an app to his career would make the individual let go of that data without thinking twice. Creating deliberate solutions to local problems is the first step.

Ruth:

Start with Rivers State, connect graduates here to companies in Rivers State, we look up to indeed.com but indeed can show employment opportunities companies decide to upload there, we know the area, the nook, and cranny, we can get companies to exclusively sign up with us to get access to graduates, get the Port Harcourt market before moving to other states. Try to solve the problem of a niche first before expanding your solution.

Ruth:

Not quite long I was trying to get the salary range for a particular job role in Nigeria, guess what no data. People are in these positions in various companies, LinkedIn salary told me it wasn’t yet available for my country.

Ruth:

This kind of data doesn’t need government intervention, a local job/salary app could get this data from people.

Louis:

So in conclusion, we lack data, we need data and for us to get the data, we need to create projects that would enable us to get the data we need. Also, volunteering to share data, is more like accepting Open Source fully.