A tech trainer, Joy Micah, has said Nigeria seems slow in adopting opportunities in the tech world compared to some other African countries.
Micah, an Information, Communication and Technology expert, disclosed this during an interview with our correspondent.
She said countries like Rwanda, South Africa and Tanzania were embracing opportunities in technology more than Nigeria despite being the most populous black nation.
“Technology has evolved in this 21st century and it is important that everyone gets acquainted with it. As a third-world country, Nigeria seems slow in adopting the opportunities that tech has to offer compared to countries like Rwanda, South Africa or even Ghana,” she said.
Micah added that the more technical aspect of tech was yet to be explored by Nigerians and integrated into the Nigerian system.
“I would say the technical aspect of tech is yet to be explored by a lot of Nigerians who are already in tech and who are starting off. For example, Artificial Intelligence is making waves now and solving a lot of problems, and we are still stuck with Microsoft Word processing.
“Most countries have robots, smart systems and AI solving various problems, yet we can’t boast of a system in place that AI is fixing. I would also say that embedded system design and development is another aspect Nigerians have been neglecting, probably because it seems difficult.
“We can have embedded system solutions like RFID tags solving most of our identity card management problems, we shouldn’t be using basic plastic cards in 2023. It seems that we prefer to tilt towards the aspect of tech that we are convinced brings more money, but then it should be value before money,” she noted.
She further said that electricity and internet connectivity have been major hindrances to proper exploration of tech in Nigeria.
She called on the Nigerian government to create an environment that could better foster the development and access to tech skills for Nigerians.
“I would say there are two main hindrances actually, electricity and internet connectivity. We still struggle with poor electricity supply as a country. People would continue to find it difficult to learn and embrace tech because these gadgets must be powered with electricity.
“Since we haven’t been able to solve the internet problems, a lot of Nigerians are finding it difficult to access the internet to further enhance the skills they have learnt or even learn a new one. If Nigeria can solve these problems at least 50 per cent, we won’t have to struggle to get acquainted with tech,” she said.
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