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i4ITCB, Oracle Academy and NCS host seminar for STEM lecturers in South East Nigeria
. 72 Lecturers from 18 tertiary institutions participated at the one-day program
BY: Nmerichukwu Igweamaka
The Initiative for Information Technology Capacity Building (i4itcb) has called for improved pedagogy among Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) tutors in the South Eastern part of Nigeria.
The Non-Governmental Organization, made this emphasis at a one-day Academia’s & Technology Seminar for STEM lecturers held at Universal Hotel, Independence Layout, Enugu in collaboration with the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) and Oracle Academy which demonstrated educational curriculum resources to aid the educators impart their students.
Speaking at the seminar themed: Teaching for Industry Relevant STEM Skills’, Prof. Hettie Abimbola Soriyan, Lecturer at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, said that STEM teachers need a change in their mindset to be able to win-back students to the classrooms.
She said, “They are working with a generation that does not show as much interest in class room lectures as its was in times gone by, because their interest in technology, especially social media has increased in leaps, almost as a disadvantage. So, lecturers need to leave our comfort zones to train ourselves to use that technology to reach out to the students. Engage the students; give them some things to think about, analyse and present their thoughts.
“From the exercise we did here, the participants now have a better understanding of areas that need improvement on their part. If teachers transpose skills learnt from the exercise into system development analysis, it is clear; more work is required on the part of the Lecturers. I recommend that programs like this should be spread over two to three days; as there are still lots to discuss about how to win-back the students”.
Prof. Soriyan, emphasised need to transform the same technology students are using to their advantages. “When you want to give assignment link it to social media and recent topics. They like watching videos like cartoons. Let’s test them based on those areas. We have to appreciate the fact that their’s is a generation that is tech-savvy only for use and consumption and are not interested in developing technology parse. So, teachers need to change the dynamics”, she added.
Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Engineer Iyiola Ayoola, said that from the theme it is obvious that participants have been exposed to the need to teach computer science or IT courses in the relevant way; that is, to galvanize the economy into fourth industrial revolution.
“When we refer to the fourth industrial revolution, it implies that IT has penetrated every facet of human endeavour. As a result, we are seeing technological disruptions today.
“So, we are talking about lecturers and teachers of Computer Science courses; they should be able to stay ahead of the class and the result is graduates who are ready to conquer in this technological dispensation. We have many IT courses now in Big Data, Robotics, Mobile Internet, Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchain, Virtual Reality; these are disruptions in the IT industry that should be taught with the relevant tools and revamped curriculum.
“Definitely, there is no dull student; when taught in the right manner, each student will find one area as relevant to him or her”, Engr. Ayoola reechoed.
During her presentation, the Country Programs Manager, Sub-Saharan Africa, Oracle Academy, Sefunmi Fadahunsi, reiterated the global IT giant’s determination to impact next generation of professionals through free educational resources around STEM that teachers and schools can leverage on to deliver quality teaching and learning experience.
In Sefunmi Fadahunsi’s words: “It means that students need to be engaged practically to be able to learn STEM so that they can have skills relevant in the industry. All the resources Oracle Academy has for them is free. The resources are industry relevant. In other words, what the students will learn through Oracle Academy is the same as our customers are subscribing to, to drive their businesses; Java, Database, IoT, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning resources, curriculum and software resources – all free for both the teachers and the students.
“That is what we have brought to the South Eastern States and we hope to continue working with them for the advancement of Computer Science Education”.
Meanwhile, the Founder, Initiative for Information Technology Capacity Building, i4itcb, Dele Bayo-Osibo, explained the rationale behind the seminar.
“What informed our coming to the South East is that, we have a vision to improve the footprints of Information Technology professionals in the polity. What we have decided to do is to move from region to region and carry out this impartation of knowledge.
“The Idea is that we will, overtime, close the gap between the industry and the academia. We believe in moving from ‘Knowledge to Impact’; which is our slogan. And as such, we want to impart knowledge in the academia because we believe they are critical stakeholders in this move to improve IT technicians, professionals in the polity”, Bayo-Osibo said.
Highpoint of the seminar was a debate on the positive and negative impacts of Artificial intelligence in human society with two lecturers emerging winners; and took home new laptop each presented by i4itcb.
Assessing the debaters, the Chief Customer Architect, ECEMA, Oracle Africa, Dr. Olufemi Oyenuga, said: “I can feel the energy among the Teachers in the South Eastern part of Nigeria. The energy is really positive. There is also the DNA of South Eastern part of Nigeria wanting to learn. I have never seen quite an astonishing debate on AI as these University professors and doctors did. They actually connected the knowledge, application and future of AI to some basic things about our life and culture.
“I think the convener of the programme has done a fantastic job because she had planted a seed, let’s watch out it grows and bears much fruits.
“Secondly, I think it is going to connect and open up tributes of knowledge on fourth industrial revolution in Nigeria looking at things like 5G, AI, IoT, Big Data Analytics, Machine Learning, as the fulcrum to the next technological advancement we are in; not necessarily looking at the entire gambit rather taking it in bits.
“So, the learning methodology must change for a transmission and transformation of knowledge into fourth industrial revolution”.
Nodding in agreement, Mayowa Ajiboye of TechX Innovation Hub located in Enugu State, said, “I believe that there should be synergy between the universities and technology innovation hubs in the South East, because universities possess the brain-power for innovation. But I noticed that over the years, it has never been so with regards this part of the country. That is why hubs are springing up.
“Nevertheless, the bulk of the ideas are still in the universities, so they need to synergise with all the hubs around as fast as possible to translate the energy and ideas into valuable products. With the hubs, they can easily get their models very correctly”.
PHOTO CAPTION:
(L-r): the Country Programs Manager, Sub-Saharan Africa, Oracle Academy, Sefunmi Fadahunsi; Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Engineer Iyiola Ayoola; Founder, Initiative for Information Technology Capacity Building, i4itcb, Dele Bayo-Osibo; Lecturer at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, Prof. Hettie Abimbola Soriyan and Chief Customer Architect, ECEMA, Oracle Africa, Dr. Olufemi Oyenuga, at the seminar.
Source: techeconomy.ng
The Enugu State government has inaugurated a steering committee to eliminate Gender-Based Violence, GBV, in the state, declaring zero tolerance for the social malaise.
The inauguration took place at the Government House Enugu.
The panel, which is chaired by the Commissioner for Children, Gender Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Ngozi Enih, draws its membership from the Nigeria Police Force, Ministry of Agriculture and Agro Industrialisation, Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ministry of Human Development and Poverty Reduction, Ministry of Trade, Investment and Industry, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education as well as the Civil Society.
Inaugurating the panel known as the Steering Committee for Strengthening Institutional and Community Responses to End Gender-Based Violence/Domestication of Enugu State Gender Policy using the Oputa Panel approach, Governor Peter Mbah restated his administration’s commitment to not bringing perpetrators of GBV to book, but also putting in place proactive measures – activities, infrastructure, and systems in place to prevent them.
Mbah, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, said, “We take gender-based violence seriously. We have zero tolerance for it, and in Enugu State, we are ready to go the extra mile to deal with it.
“If you notice, the government has selected people that are very committed to this goal. This is not an activity where we just want to check-off the list. We will track this. We will monitor this, and we will have quarterly engagements on the successes that this particular committee has achieved in terms of reference that we are going to send.
“We will tighten those terms of reference indicators, so that we monitor what we are doing both in terms of cost input and the value added. It’s very important to us. Many people will be involved – civil society, the police and various ministries.”
He however, said that the effort was to protect everyone, men and women alike, as GBV was not restricted to any gender.
“The whole idea is to hold people responsible that are involved in matters relating to gender violence and deter people that by culture or by association get involved in that, protect women, protect our children, and in the case of violence against men, protect our men because most times we misconstrue gender violence to mean women, but it can also be men too.
“We encourage our men to speak out and to make sure they understand that the policy that Enugu State is soon going to domesticate is for everyone, and not only for the female gender,” he stated.
In her remark, Mrs. Enih, explained that the Oputa Panel approach was inspired by the need to cover all local peculiarities in domesticating the policy on GBV, restarting government’s confidence in the members of the panel.
“The approach we are going to use is the Oputa Panel approach, and in the Oputa Panel approach, we are going to tour the 17 Local Government Areas to get firsthand information about what our people are going through because policy is meant for the people, and a policy should suit the people.
“Again, every community has its peculiar problems, so that’s why the government decided that if we have to domesticate the gender policy, we have to hear from the people who own the policy and know the changes that they desire to see. That is the reason we are using this approach.
“The committee members are to also serve as judges. As we gather this information from our people, we will come back to tailor it in a way to suit the people of Enugu State, and then our policy is ready.
“We want the people to know that there is a gender policy for them. I can assure you that when the people are aware that there is such a policy, they will seek for the enforcement of that policy. So, this is not going to be one of those policies that will just lie on the shelf,” she said.
Digital solutions provider, Globacom, has congratulated Christians in Nigeria on this year’s Easter celebration, and urged them to emulate the noble qualities of Jesus Christ.
The company, in a goodwill message to the Christian faithful in the country, lauded their perseverance through the Lenten period which preceded Easter. It enjoined them to always promote the ideals of selflessness, love and peace among all as a way of demonstrating the virtues of the exemplary life of Jesus Christ.
“Peace, love and sacrifice are the central message of Easter. Christ offered himself in atonement for the sins of the world and he lived a life which made Him an eternal symbol of peace and goodwill for mankind”, Globacom added.
The company enjoined all Nigerians to share in the lessons of promoting selflessness, a necessary ingredient in the growth and development of every society. It also enjoined all Nigerians to join hands to make Nigeria a better place for all.
Easter is celebrated yearly at the end of the Lenten season of fasting and prayer considered as a ritual of purification for the Christian faithful. It also precedes the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ on Good Friday and His eventual resurrection on Easter Sunday.
The company assured its customers of seamless voice, data and Short Messaging Service (SMS) during and after the Easter celebrations, while urging them to avail themselves of the various data and voice offerings on the network.
The Guild of Private Broadcast Managers has extended its heartfelt congratulations to the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) as it celebrates its 70th Anniversary.
In a congratulatory message signed by the Guild’s National President, Ambassador Patrick Uzoyi-Peters, JP MNGRM, the guild described the milestone as a testament to the NUJ’s unwavering commitment to upholding press freedom, journalistic integrity, and the advancement of democracy in Nigeria.
“For seven decades, the NUJ has played a pivotal role in shaping the media landscape, advocating for the rights and welfare of journalists, and ensuring that the voice of the people remains strong and unyielding. Your resilience, professionalism, and dedication to ethical journalism have been instrumental in fostering transparency, accountability, and national development”.
Celebrating this historic achievement, the Guild’s President, Uzoyi-Peters recognized the sacrifices and contributions of journalists across the nation who work tirelessly to inform, educate, and empower society.
The Guild reiterated it commitment towards collaborating with the NUJ in promoting responsible journalism and strengthening the media industry for the greater good.
While wishing the NUJ continued success, growth, and greater impact in the years ahead, President Uzoyi-Peters prayed that the anniversary serve as a renewed call to uphold the principles of truth, fairness, and press freedom in our collective pursuit of a more informed and just society.
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