Co-Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, SR IPD Logistics Company, Mr Olusegun Idowu, said this during the graduation ceremony of 150 students who participated in the 10-day Olusegun Coding 2.0 robotics school held at Obalende Local Council Development Area in Lagos State.
The participants were schoolchildren trained in various computer skills, including web development, robotics, game development, graphics design, scratch programme, artificial intelligence, and computer coding.
The training was held in collaboration with Fosters Private Schools, Lagos.
Idowu encouraged the participants to be dedicated to the various skills they learned.
He said, “The coding initiative is a means of using education to reduce poverty, and unemployment because when the children have these skills, it will enable them to be competitive globally. They will have the skills to work remotely against crime and that’s the essence of Olusegun Coding Class.”
“In the first edition last year, we had about 120 children who participated and the impact was enormous. Today, the winner of last year’s edition was here and expressed himself confidently on his knowledge of website development, robotics, and AI.”
He advised, “The government needs to introduce and start teaching coding in public schools. They also need to train public school teachers in Information Technology so that they will be able to teach their learners.”
Director, Fosters Private Schools, Lagos, Mr Patrick Foster, revealed that over 500 children applied for the training but 150 qualified for the entrance examination.
Deputy Governor of Lagos, Obafemi Hamzat, who was represented by Mr Wasiu Jimoh, added, “Technology is the future and the children are the future. This is an environment where the ‘future meets the future.’ Although two weeks cannot be enough to learn these skills. But it is more than enough to stimulate your interest in this very dynamic world that holds a lot of benefits.”
