ABUJA, Nigeria – Mediaage NG News – Myllash Youth Foundation for Innovation on Saturday said it aims at digitalising Nigerian brands and SMEs by opening conversations to bring young talents together, provide them with opportunities, learn and network to earn a living.
Justin Ibhembisa, the CEO of the foundatio said the organisation’s desire is to empower youth in Nigeria and Africa to bridge existing gap in digital system development in the continent. This will enable these young talents to learn tech skills, work and help develop tech space in the country.
“Over the years, we have realised a major gap in the whole digital system in Nigeria, such that young persons in the country learn tech skills and are targeting foreign companies, work remotely and earn in US dollars and neglecting the Nigerian environment”, Mr. Ibhembisa said at the Myllash Youth Foundation for Innovation Annual Conference 2023 (MyfiCon 2023) held in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.
“You look at small scale businesses carrying out millions in transactions but still operating on a small level because, they are yet to take full advantage of digital transformation.
“What I’m trying to say is, as more Nigerian talents are going out there to take foreign jobs and developing those bigger brands, we are also looking on ways to open conversations to bring together these talents and digitalise Nigerian brands and SME”, he added.
Mr. Ibhembisa said the conference also aimed at profiling both the Nigerian talents and businesses through an online platform “where a lot of these activities will be taking place because, after today, we do follow up to drive these conversations forward.
That’s the drive behind the event, to see the extent of how young talents can explore digital transformation for Nigerian SMEs.
CEO and founder of Know The Blocks Maven, Ayomide Arowolo-Ayodeji while speaking on “Critical Thinking and Innovation: A Vital Tool In Leveraging Nigerian Digital Skills”, said to improve from one’s state of employment, critical thinking is the first step.
Mrs. Arowolo-Ayodeji also said that critical thinking is a self guided, self disciplined thinking which attempts to reason at the highest level of quality in a fair-minded way.
“No one will think for you. Innovators do not depend on what people say, they implement ideas after thinking to produce goods and provide services. Everyone is employed to offer something. We are naturally enabled to think, so, whatever comes to our thoughts is very important.
“The quality of life depends on the quality of our thoughts. Whatever you are today, is the level/quality of your thoughts. You have to start from a step”, she added.
Mrs. Arowolo-Ayodeji further said that the importance of critical thinking is to remain relevant. “To think critically, we must separate facts from fictions”, she stated. The importance of critical thinking she listed include problem solving, access to quality information, amongst others.
Other factors that kill critical thinking, according to her, are over reliance on authority and black and white thinking.
Dr. Sa’adatu Adamu, a mental health advocate, while revealing that mental health is real, said the young ones today need to be helped to understand where they are headed. She enumerated the role of mental health in career building or just money making.
Speaking on the topic, Youth In Tech and Mental Health, said self discovery is key, therefore, it is imperative to “know your space”.
“Mental health is how we think, feel and act”, she said.
“That’s the driver of our daily activities. If you don’t think, feel and act well, it becomes something else”, she stated
“The founder of Secure D- Future also disclosed that to understand the use of technology amongst the youth, there must positive impacts, access to information, connectivity and communication. She further pointed out on potential drawbacks and concerns on technology include excessive screen time, cyberbullying and online harassment, privacy and security risks. She said the impact of social media is huge, as it affects the mind faster.
While listing out biological and genetic factors, traumatic experiences, stress and pressure, social and environmental factors as things that contribute to mental health issues, she said the positive influence of technology on mental health include calm, talkspace and mindshift.
In a panelist session that had Mr. Revelation Onuche, Aborunke Blessing and Fikayo Adepoju as speakers and discussing on the topic, Nigerian Tech Renaissance – Unveiling Opportunities and Challenges, Mr. Onuche said there’s need to show more readiness for tech space development in the country.
He also said tech can be picked as a business or career, depending on what an individual is pursuing. Calling for a change of mindset from the young ones, Onuche said those that see tech as a business hardly want to learn, while those that prefer to build career on it must be ready to learn and grow.
Blessing, a Product Designer, said her profesion is concerned about user experience and the problems users face. She said thinking of design strategy entails getting a business plan that “aligns with your goal”.
“When building a product, you must be usercentric”, she said.
She urged for government support through funding that will advance innovative ideas and help the growth of the Nigerian economy.
Fikayo Adepoju while speaking on tech advancement to drive the country forward, said Nigeria is a frontrunner in tech startup in Africa, adding that more focus should be on digital infrastructure creation to develop the tech industry.
“There should be more technology adoption”, he said.
“Opportunities come from new adoption of technology, there should be more education, readiness to transform and orientation of the use of technology. The government need to play a part”, he said.