The average African Youth does not place too many premiums on his continent. Wars, famine, diseases, and poverty have affected him. And now, the digital divide stares him in the face. Africa once led the world into innovative creations such as the enduring Pyramids of Egypt, and her sons kept the spirit of creativity on. The world will never forget the inventors of the elevator, automatic gearshift, super charge system (for internal combustion engines), traffic signals, the electric trolley, and the street sweeper. They are all of African origin. Need we ask about what Africa's sons and daughters still do in their new locations today? Why then is Africa's garden filled with thorns while she helps keep other gardens?
Africa has 35 of the world's poorest countries, and if we do not make concrete efforts to participate in the information superhighway, the continent will only get poorer. The necessity of building an information highway, through computer knowledge and training, as a way of releasing Africa from her poverty is expressed in the words of Philip Emeagwali (referred to as a father of the Internet by CNN), "Africa must get onboard... Right now! ... Africa will be either on to the Information Age or off to the dark Agricultural Age ... Africa is suffering from knowledge apartheid that forces its children to eat the crumbs from the dinner table of the information-affluent nations."
One can predict the future of a country by the quality of education its youth receive! Nigeria has made a good start in the adoption of IT but the pace of computerization has been affected by the dire economic situation. IT development in Nigeria has passed through three distinct phases, namely: the early phase from 1963 to about 1975, a period of rapid growth from 1977 to 1982, which was followed by a period of relative stagnation from 1982 to 1986. Currently, there is a new upsurge in the acquisition and use of computers. With less of import restrictions and foreign exchange controls, and given the pressure on the management of industrial and business concerns to adopt more efficient methods of production, the use of computers is expanding rapidly. The Internet is no longer perceived as "magic". You will find a cybercafé in almost any urban street corner and it costs less than $1 to stay online.
Except in a few privately owned secondary schools, hardly is there any public secondary school that owns a computer to teach the students anyway. Similarly, very few universities in the country have Internet connection. The key is that Nigerian youth have to be introduced to the computer as early as possible. It has to be the backbone of the educational curriculum, if we want to succeed in bridging the looming digital divide. Fortunately, Nigeria's commitment to the adoption of IT is growing and this is reflected by the adoption of a National IT Policy, and the establishment of a National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). All stakeholders (private sector, civil society, academia, youth, women and government) need to partner across interests to ensure sustainable development through technology.
In 2001, a Nigerian IT training institute (The Executive Cyberschuul, Lagos - www.cyberschuul.com) led an effort to identify capable young Nigerians through the Promising Young Web Developer Competition which culminated in the award of "Nigeria's Information Technology Youth Ambassador". This process, building on a Johannesburg meeting with Ghana's ICT Youth Ambassador and other young Africans, led to an ambitious meeting that sought a New Africa that all would be proud of taking advantage of strong interests in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).
That same meeting helped improve a unique relationship between two nations - Ghana and Nigeria. Two young men began discussions on working together and making impact in their individual countries, and continued even after returning home. One major outcome of the partnership is the birth of the African Youth Initiative (AYI) - which grew from tons of email messages - and a miniature website at http://africatomorrow.tripod.com - to a dynamic organization that has commenced operations, beginning from Ghana.
AYI's vision is to initiate, sustain and promote sustainable development in Africa by harnessing the potentials of Africa's youth, regardless of their present geographical location. These youths are empowered with appropriate ICT skills and knowledge for the purpose of personal development, regional cooperation and global impact. The initiative's website is at http://www.ayinitiative.net and while the network is growing beyond the founding partners (Paradigm Initiative Nigeria and oneVillage, Ghana) to include other youth-led Information and Communications Technology for Development (ICT4D) efforts across Africa, the website will go on to host projects that young people are executing to change the face of Africa.
One of the initiative's major objectives, the Catch IT Young ICT Club scheme, has been launched in Ghana to serve as the pilot phase of the project and it may not be too early to say that African youths have decided to take the bull by the horns in order to use ICTs for Africa's development - in any sector, including strengthening our indisputable agricultural prowess.
Yesterday, two young men met. Today, a journey begins. Tomorrow, Africa will take her proper place in the Information Society. Open the door for African youths, and see how fast they will run with ICTs.
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* Gbenga Sesan, Kafui Prebbie 2003 (http://www.gbengasesan.com - http://www.ayinitiative.net)
