Youths, without a doubt, are Nigeria’s largest contributors and active key players in the area of National development. According to an article by Rinalia Abdul Rahim – Strategy Council Member of the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development,
“young people who are given early access to information and communications technologies (ICT) tend to become early adopters and adapters of the technologies, skills valued for spurring innovation and economic growth.”
She goes further to state that…
“To break the cycle of poverty and unleash youth potential in creating change for themselves and for society, a multiple focus on ICT, learning (formal or informal), and entrepreneurial skills development is required.”
It is on this premise that Focushub Code Camp event was organized.
The event which took place last week Saturday at the tech hub, located off Psychiatric road Port Harcourt, had as its main objective, the acquisition of coding skills by young persons in the Niger Delta. In line with its vision of fostering digital entrepreneurship in the Niger Delta FocusHub put together the one day event to introduce young people to the basics of HTML, CSS, PHP and Content Systems Management. The event recorded attendance from students of the Computer Science Department, University of Port Harcourt as well as other young individuals who were interested in pursuing a future in ICT.
The training sessions were facilitated by Gino Osahon – Developer Advocate and Lead Organizer Google Developers Group Port Harcourt, alongside Olawale Arowolo – Focushub IT Analyst/ and I.T consultant for various local and international ICT4D projects.The participants went home with a renewed zeal for code writing and a new appreciation for ICT.
In his opening address, Ikechukwu Uche (co-founder Focushub) charged the participants on the need to acquire comprehensive IT skills as the future belongs to innovators and creators. He further stated that Focushub would channel its efforts and resources towards organizing more digital literacy programmes in the coming future even as the hub strives to stimulate and support the Port Harcourt tech ecosystem any way it can.
