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Systemspecs Trains Students to Become Globally Competitive at Remita Summer Coding Camp
Determined to improve the country’s education and engage young Nigerians to become globally competitive through the facilitation of capacity building and technology transfer boot camp, SystemSpecs, leading software company in Nigeria has pulled secondary school students together in a-two week intensive coding sessions in Lagos and Abuja.
Tagged Remita Summer Coding Camp, the two-week summer camp, according to SystemSpecs Corporate Social Responsibility programme coordinator, Akor Akpenyi, will build the capacity of the students to become globally competitive via coding and other technology programmes, which in many ways will provide solutions to Nigeria’s perennial challenges.
Akpenyi further explained that the coding camp is not a one-off platform, but a five-to ten-year plan that will help to drive national growth and development, especially in education.
“Today, we are engaging the secondary school students. Tomorrow, we may decide to engage the university students in order to build capacity and transfer knowledge through the application of technology in respect to artificial intelligence, machine learning and the Internet of Things, animation, building games, 3D printing along with some other interesting training”, she said.
According to her, “the knowledge gained from the training exercise would later transform to become major vocations that the students would lean-on to become value-adding professionals in the next couple of years. Our intention is to develop the ability of these students for the nation”, she said.
One of the parents who accompanied one of the participating students, Aishat Lawal at the summer camp, Olajide Lawal, told the media that he purposely brought her 12-year old daughter who is in JSS3 at the Federal Government College, Ibillo, Edo State, to the camp to learn how to write a line of code.
Lawal said that he had to register her ward when he learnt about the opportunities available to students who are digitally-inclined in this present digital age.
“I see a lot of opportunities that are lacking in my local government and brought Aishat here to build her capacity in addition to what she is being taught in Federal Government College”, Lawal said.
Lawal who brought her daughter from Ifelodun Local Government to Lekki, venue of the coding camp said he was satisfied with the high level of facilitators who administer the coding classes.
“Aishat told me that they were taught how to build animation, games, 3D printing and many other things. I know that after the two weeks, she would have learnt a lot of things”, Lawal explained.
However, the Executive Director, SystemSpecs, Deremi Atanda who was at the camp to raise the morale of the students said SystemSpecs is building the capacity of the students on how to discover the reason why they are in school.
“We are complementing what the government is doing. If one of the fundamental responsibilities of the government is being challenged, we cannot complain. We must look at what we can do to complement the government’s efforts. That’s education on a general level.
“At SystemSpecs, we are more interested in national competitiveness that rides on the back of the knowledge economy and knowledge economy thrives on the back of effective technology skills. That is what is driving our involvement in the summer camp, which is not a short-term plan but a long term plan. This is how SystemSpecs is contributing to national development, particularly in the area of education.
“It’s time for us to start planning for long-term development as a nation where young people can build capacity and skills to support local businesses. It may be too late to get the attention of students who are already in tertiary institutions because their minds are already made”, he advised.
In his words, Atanda said catching the secondary students young would make them be more “productive to serve in the local economy much earlier and become globally competitive”.
Accelerating artificial intelligence (AI) adoption could increase Africa’s GDP by up to 4% over the next decade, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In a report released on Tuesday, titled Africa Can Grow Faster With AI—If It Moves Now, economists from the IMF’s Africa Department say current levels of AI adoption and utilisation are expected to contribute just 0.2% to the region’s GDP over the next 10 years.
However, the report says stronger adoption, supported by the right infrastructure and policies, could raise the economic impact to about 4% by extending AI beyond today’s digitally connected firms.
Martin Schindler and other IMF economists say: “AI adoption in sub-Saharan Africa currently lags well behind every other region. If richer economies race ahead while African firms and governments lag, the productivity gap between the region and the rest of the world will only widen.”
Early signs of AI adoption are emerging across Africa, with countries including Zimbabwe, Kenya, Egypt and Nigeria developing AI strategies.
Telecommunications operators, including Vodacom, Econet, Africell and MTN, are also integrating AI into their operations and networks.
Other examples include chatbots supporting teaching and learning in Nigeria and the South African Revenue Service’s use of data analytics for targeted tax audits.
However, the IMF says AI adoption must extend beyond these early use cases to deliver meaningful economic benefits.
“For the region, AI’s main promise is not about replacing office workers, but boosting productivity across the economy—helping informal firms manage inventory, enabling farmers to increase yields, and supporting mid-sized firms to transition to formality and export readiness,” the report reads.
The IMF is urging governments to prioritise investment in reliable electricity, affordable broadband, data infrastructure and digital skills to support wider AI adoption.
Many African countries, including Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon, continue to face electricity shortages, while broadband services remain costly and coverage is uneven.
The Fund believes stronger investment in power, connectivity, regional data infrastructure and digital skills would help unlock AI’s economic potential.
National Population Commission (NPC) has commenced the nationwide digital registration of births and deaths under the Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (E-CRVS) system to strengthen legal identity management and improve demographic data.
Speaking at a press briefing in Lokoja on Tuesday, Mr Afolabi Yori, federal commissioner representing Kogi, said the initiative became operational nationwide on July 1, through the VitalReg platform.
Yori described the development as a landmark in Nigeria’s civil registration system, noting that it would modernise birth and death registration through a technology-driven platform that meets international standards.
He said the digital platform would improve service delivery, strengthen data integrity and ensure that every birth and death occurring in Nigeria was accurately documented and securely stored.
According to him, civil registration is more than an administrative process, as it provides reliable statistics that support public policy formulation, resource allocation and national development planning.
“Nigeria records an estimated five million births annually, yet millions of births and deaths remain unregistered.
“Birth registration coverage currently stands at about 57 per cent nationwide, while death registration remains below 20 per cent,” he said.
The commissioner said that the commission had established 4,011 functional registration centres across the country’s 774 local government areas and was working to expand the number to about 8,000.
He added that the commission was strengthening collaboration with stakeholders to improve the capacity of registration personnel and ensure prompt documentation of vital events through the VitalReg platform.
Yori said the platform would provide faster registration services, 24-hour online access, digital certificate issuance where applicable, and reduce paperwork, waiting time and unnecessary travel.
He disclosed that the platform was being operated under a Public-Private Partnership with Barnks-forte Technologies Ltd. as the commission’s technical partner to ensure system availability, cybersecurity and continuous technological improvement.
He called on parents, healthcare institutions, traditional and religious leaders, civil society organisations, development partners and the media to support the initiative by encouraging the prompt registration of births and deaths.
Earlier, Samuel Omonakpeme, director in Kogi, NPC State, described the commencement of the digital registration system as another milestone in efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s Civil Registration and Vital Statistics system.
Omonakpeme stated that the initiative aligns with the Federal Government’s digital transformation agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 16.9, which seeks to provide legal identity for all.
He appreciated the Federal Government, the leadership of the commission, UNICEF and other development partners for supporting the implementation of the initiative.
The state director also urged parents, guardians, health institutions, community leaders, religious organisations and the media to mobilise public support for the timely registration of all births and deaths.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that ICT personnel of the commission, led by Ehimoni Kolawole, conducted a live demonstration of the digital birth registration process using the VitalReg platform.
The demonstration showed that the registration process captures the biodata of both parents, while at least one parent must possess a valid National Identification Number (NIN) to complete the registration of a newborn.
Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC) has alerted its customers to a fraudulent message circulating on social media, falsely claiming that electricity consumers can receive an additional 20 per cent bonus units when recharging their prepaid meters through unofficial channels.
In a statement issued by the company’s management on Monday, YEDC described the claim as false and urged customers to disregard the misleading information, stressing that it did not originate from the company.
According to the statement, YEDC does not offer bonus electricity units through individuals, agents, personal bank accounts, phone numbers, or social media contacts.
The company advised customers to purchase electricity tokens only through approved cashless payment platforms, including the YEDC Pay App, OPay, Interswitch, and other authorised vending channels, or to visit the nearest YEDC office for assistance.
YEDC also cautioned customers against sharing their meter details or personal information, or making payments to unauthorised persons claiming to represent the company.
The company further urged customers to rely exclusively on information disseminated through its official communication channels to avoid falling victim to fraud.
The management thanked customers for their continued cooperation and reaffirmed its commitment to serving them.
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