An IT expert has asked the Nigerian government to initiate a policy through which it will be able to support personal computer ownership by the nation’s students.
Leo Stan Ekeh, chairman of Zinox Technologies, said such a policy is required in order to ensure more Nigerian students are computer literate.
He made this call while hosting officials from the Intel Corporation at his office.
Ekeh said: “If government makes available just NGN1 billion (US$6 million) for the subsidy of computers for all Nigerian children, that would be an investment that will yield dividends in trillions of naira.
“This is because youths so equipped with computers today will be the engineers, lawyers, farmers, pilots, and other professionals of tomorrow, and the nation will benefit as they will be better trained than their forebears.”
According to Ekeh, if other sectors such as the aviation and maritime sectors could have
development funding, it is equally essential for the nation’s government to support computer ownership and education of the nation’s students with a similar fund.
He added: “Empowering the young ones today with IT equipment is a surer way of ensuring a future Nigeria that can provide for its people, sustain the unity and stability of Nigeria, and lead the rest of Africa. Until this is done, democracy dividends cannot be said to have been delivered.”
