Case for Private Sector Driven ICT Hub

Successive governments in the country have failed to provide job opportunities for Nigerians and at last count the army of unemployed Nigerians has grown to 23.9 percent in 2011 according to reports by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

These statistics are certainly not acceptable.

There is not even hope on the horizon as President Goodluck Jonathan’s solution to create new jobs for youth appears flawed and heading the way of previous attempts.

This is because the solution bandied about by his Economic Advisory Team and politicians in the corridors of power is still focused on the same sectors of the economy which did not produce any meaningful impact.

The President’s solution did not recognize ICT as a key pillar to enhance economic growth and national competitiveness.

The potential of ICT to improve the livelihoods of people in Nigeria cannot be over emphasized.

Hinging employment generation on ICT will play a key role in integrating Nigerian youth in efforts to rebuild the country’s economy hobbled by years of mismanagement and neglect, ICT must be a major part.

ICT remains the only way government can create and maintain an overall macroeconomic environment that brings together suppliers and consumers in an inter-firm co-operation manner.

President Jonathan and his Economic Advisory Team must be made to understand that support for such programmes as the technology hub; will create legion of youth employers of labour.

Such efforts as the Technology hub should be encouraged to awaken individual creativity, curb restiveness and connect young and budding content, applications and infrastructure developers with users and buyers.

The federal government can borrow from Co-Creation Hub, Nigeria’s foremost social innovation centre which launched the EFIKO Mobile Application.

CcHUB is a social innovation centre dedicated to accelerating the application of social capital and technology for economic prosperity.

Having a technology hub is one thing; the government must also remove the administrative barriers to technology development, ensure sound economic policy to ensure that Nigeria carve a niche in the high value, creative portion of the value chain.

This initiative must also be left in the hands of government bureaucracy.

A credible private institution with record of performance should be appointed to run the hub to make sure that innovations and inventions from the youth are commercialized.