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Technology Will Support, Complement Teachers’ Efforts-Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji

Published

6 years ago

November 10, 2017

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By chukwuemeka fred agbata

Massive open online courses have made it easy for people to gain access to quality education materials and training designed for international audiences. Thankfully, a few Startups in the Edutech space, are creating similar platforms, targeted at Primary and Secondary school students. Recently, I was with Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji, Founder, Passnownow.com and we had a discussion on the provision of quality education, through technology.

Toyosi stated that she is worried about the poor state of education that is currently persisting in the country. This, according to her, is the because, we are looking for people to effectively and conscientiously run our private sector as well as take the reign of the public sector. “We are not raising children that have any form of qualitative advantage with their colleagues in other parts of the world”, she, however, observed.

She is not also happy wit on the part of the government and even on the part of the private sector players, as regards elevating the quality of education, especially, the teachers. “I will like to be in a country where teachers are highly paid, given equal remuneration, equal respect and regards as much as bankers, lawyers and other prestigious professionals are”, she maintained.

Toyosi observed that most people who opt to become teachers in Nigeria, are usually those who have searched for other jobs, but did not succeed, as well as many unqualified teachers, who are, in some cases, not as good as the students they are teaching.

She also stated that many of the teachers are not motivated and they do not feel like stakeholders in a process where they are supposed to be the most primary people to be consulted by the government, parents and the private sector. “You think about all these issues and then, you wonder about the quality of the schools. You think about the children that are learning and sitting on the floor in very terrible environment, where no form of unwholesome learning can happen in those places”, she observed.

Those children, she reiterated, cannot, therefore, be put side by side with children from Ghana, UK, Finland, Canada and the USA, and other countries that are prioritizing education. She gave the example of what is currently happening in Rwanda, where private schools are shutting down because parents are now taking their children to public schools because of the high quality of education currently obtained in public schools. Toyosi observed that, Nigeria cannot claim to be the giant of Africa, with the current poor state of its education.

In her opinion, Toyosi is of the view that, technology be a very potent tool in the transformation of the educational sector in Nigeria. The first thing she wants Nigeria to look at, is the democratization of access to quality education content for children, especially, children from low income earning parents and rural communities. She noted that the schools that we currently have, are inadequate to cater for the needs of Nigerian children.

“We should also be thinking of how technology will enable children to have personalized learning, so that, children are able to learn at their own pace, read ahead and prepare ahead of classes”, Toyosi opined. She stated that we should also be thinking of the concept of disruptive innovation, to note how technology has impacted on various sectors, like Finance, Payments, Ecommerce, etc.

Toyosi is also of the view that, contrary to the popular thinking that, utilizing technology in education is expensive, it is, in fact, not expensive. She stated that, it is cheaper to build a huge technological framework that provides an open source, where children can learn basic technology, basic science, social science and English, as well as all the subjects provided in the Nigerian educational curriculum, from Primary school to the University level. “You cannot use yesterday’s knowledge to face today’s challenges and the kind of education that Nigerian children are getting does not prepare them for the future at al”, she observed.

According to Toyosi, teachers and students have to be carried along by State governments, in a bid to making the children embrace technology. This is because, most States focus only on the children and at the end of the day, they fail, just because they did not carry the teachers, who were going to teach the children along.”The teachers who are going to teach these children have to be tech-savvy”, she opined.

Toyosi does not believe that, technology will, forever, support and complement the efforts of teachers, in response to the notion that technology might, one day replace the teachers in schools. “I think that, in Nigeria, the government and the parents need to prioritize teachers as much as possible”, she concluded.

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NASENI, Nasarawa State, Firm to Establish Tractor Manufacturing Plant in North-Central Geo-political Zone

Published

12 hours ago

April 23, 2024

Ugo Onwuaso

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National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) is set to collaborate with Nasarawa state government and Bobtrack Tractors, a division of Saint Bob Motors Limited to start the manufacturing and assembling of tractors in the north-central geo-political zone.

Left to Right: The Chief Executive Officer, Bob Track Ltd, Mr. Ibifiri A.C Bob Manuel; the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu; the Executive Governor of Nasarawa State, Engr. Abdullahi A. Sule, and Mr. Jerry of Bob Track Ltd, during a courtesy visit at NASENI Headquarters on Monday, April 22nd, 2024.

The facilities and infrastructure available at one of NASENI’s Institutes, Agricultural Machinery and Equipment Development Institute (AMEDI), Lafia, Nasarawa state will be used for assembling and manufacturing of the tractors.

According to the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, NASENI, Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu, the project which is aimed at creating wealth and jobs for Nigerian youths is in line with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda of ensuring food security and promotion of mechanized farming and agro-business in the country. Halilu disclosed this when the Executive Governor of Nasarawa State, Engr. Abdulahi A. Sule led a delegation comprising of Bob Track Tractors to pay a visit to the Agency’s headquarters in Abuja on Monday, April 22nd, 2024.

Mr. Halilu who assured Governor Sule and the delegation of NASENI’s readiness to do business with them, said, “the Agency is willing to partner with you and sign the memorandum of understanding (MoU) so that in the next couple of weeks we will move into action.”

He disclosed that Mr. President had recognized NASENI as a national brand and its National Tractor Recovery Programme wherein 55,000 tractors would be refurbished for mechanized farming nationwide.

In his remarks, Governor Sule said, he aligned with NASENI’s vision of collaborating and promoting made-in-Nigeria goods and also believed that government’s role is to provide a level playing field necessary for businesses to thrive.

The objective of his visit, he said, was to introduce the Bob Track Tractors which deals in assembling and manufacturing of tractor and farm implements with offices in Port Harcourt to NASENI so that it could utilize the existing facilities at AMEDI, Lafia for assembling of tractors instead of acquiring a new land for the business.

The CEO of Bob Track Tractors, Mr. Ibifiri A.C. Bob Manuel said, “We are ready to take up the facility that you have in Nasarawa State, create employment and wealth for the youths in the area and also use it as a hub to drive mechanized agricultural vision of the present administration. We are willing to invest in Nasarawa state with help of His Excellency, his team and NASENI.”

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ARISE News Channel Goes Live in SA, 9 Other Southern African Countries

Published

3 days ago

April 20, 2024

Comms Week

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ARISE News Channel, Africa’s premier broadcaster, has announced its expansion into South Africa and nine other Southern African countries.

The channel is now available on Multichoice/DSTV Channel 416 in South Africa, Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

With this expansion, ARISE News Channel is now live in 54 African countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Cameroon, Sudan, Ghana, Senegal, and Cote d’Ivoire, among others.

Celebrating its 11th anniversary on January 31, ARISE News Channel continues to showcase Africa’s diversity in business, politics, technology, commerce, science, sports, show business, and fashion, while projecting the best of Africa and its cultures globally.

Nduka Obaigbena, chairman and editor-in-chief of ARISE News Channel,, expressed determination to launch the channel in all countries worldwide, stating, “The move to Southern Africa reaffirms ARISE News Channel’s position as the leading broadcaster in Africa with independence and clear thinking. We are determined to celebrate the best of Africa and tell the African story in the global marketplace.”

He added, “We shall continually showcase the emerging African century where Nigeria and other African countries will be some of the leading economies around the world. This is a marathon and not a dash: we will do for Nigeria and Africa what the CNN, the BBCs, and Aljazeeras have done for their nations and regions. In the emerging African AI- driven new information highway, no one will shape your narrative better than you.”

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Simi to Feature on Glo Sponsored African Voices

Published

4 days ago

April 19, 2024

Chike Onwuegbuchi

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This week, the incredible talents of Nigerian singer, songwriter, and actress Simisola Bolatito Kosoko, better known by her stage name, Simi, will be highlighted on African Voices Changemakers, an interview program sponsored by Globacom on Cable News Network (CNN).

Simi began her career initially as a gospel singer. Her debut studio album, “Ogaju”, was released in 2008. After she got a record deal with X3M Music in 2014, she released the album “Tiff,” which was nominated for a 2015 Headies Best Alternative Song award.

Her debut studio album, “Omo Charlie Champagne”, Vol. 1, was released to mark her 31st birthday on April 19, 2019, and her second album, “Simisola”, was also released the same year. She became the CEO of her own label, Studio Brat, which she launched in June 2019.

Simi was one of the judges of the Season 7 of the Nigerian idol TV show in 2022.

Mother of a girl named Dejare, Simi married popular musician, Adekunle Gold in 2019 having graduated from Covenant University in Ota, Ogun State. Some of her works include “Joromi”, “Know You”, “Jericho”, and “Duduke”.

On Saturday at 8.30 a.m., the 30-minute magazine show will air on the global channel. Reruns can be seen on Saturday at noon, Sunday at 4.30 a.m., and Sunday at 7:00 p.m. Another rerun will air at 4 a.m. on Monday of the following week, 8.30 a.m. and 12 p.m. on Saturday, and 7 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. on Sunday.

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