Lawmaker proffers solution to crime among youths

House of Representatives member, Mr. Daniel Asama, has identified the training of youths in computer and information technology as the panacea to the menace of internet scams prevalent in the country.

Asama, representing Jos/Bassa Federal Constituency of Plateau State, called on relevant ministries and agencies to ensure effective implementation of the national information technology policy.

The lawmaker spoke during the closing ceremony of a summer programme organised by the Teen Ambassador Foundation in collaboration with Net Access Communication Ltd in Abuja, held at the weekend in the Luvu area of Karu Council of Nasarawa State.

The lawmaker noted that implementation fatigue, infrastructural dilapidation, and corruption are widespread challenges in the country, affecting not only IT development but also other sectors.

Underlining the need to introduce young people to computer science and technology, he called for concerted efforts aimed at redirecting the energy of youths, including those involved in online scams, towards positive uses of technology.

He said, “Today, AI has taken over everything. Literally, I will tell you that in the near future, computers and technology will take over the world. I have children, and I will only be fair to my kids if I introduce them to computers now.

“I have to introduce my kids to STEM. I have to introduce them to technology that has to do with programming, computing, and every other thing. I don’t care what my child is going to learn. If you want to be a doctor, if you want to be a lawyer, but I will have to give you a background, a deep, very solid background in computer sciences, before you can reach any other profession.

“Because I don’t want my child to have a profession that one day will be short changed. And I will tell you, for Nigeria as a whole, technology is the hope for the world. Silicon Valley today is made up of younger people from the ages of 16 to about 40.

“They are the ones driving Silicon Valley in California today, where technology is being incubated for the whole world. Today, Nigeria is known to have some of the smartest people in the world.

“All the Yahoo boys that you hear about, all the scams that you hear about, it’s technology. There isn’t technology to do it. If we can only redirect that technology and put it in the right place, then we are good.

“So, all this technology and the crime we are seeing online, the internet scam and everything, we only need to get these guys when they are young. Like we are doing here in Teen Ambassador. Get them young.

“Inculcate this discipline. Let them learn the technology, but learn to apply it in the right places. My background is in computer science.

“I understand that I could have chosen to be a scammer, hacking people’s accounts, or hacking ATMs to get money. Or I can develop software that will help and develop people. So today, the kids have an opportunity to learn how to develop their country.

“This technology thing—India, Israel, Kenya now, and some parts of Africa, around the world—are growing strong in technology. We have the capacity. We can match them and even do better than them. I like this, and I think this is the way forward. What will help our economy today is to build industrialization internally.

“If we build up a technology today that the world is going to buy, then we are already up. So what happens to X? What happens to Facebook? What happens to Instagram? What is happening with all the platforms—Google, Yahoo, everything? We can do it here.

“Yahoo was started by seven young people. They were teenagers, seven of them, who started Yahoo, and then it became what it is now. We can do this here.”

The lawmaker’s comments underscore the need for a comprehensive approach to addressing Nigeria’s IT development challenges, including effective implementation, monitoring, and investment in youth education.

The Director General of the Teen Ambassador Foundation (TAF), Mr. Paul Adiwu, called on the federal government to invest more in young teenagers in the area of Information Communication Technology (ICT) across the country.

According to Adiwu, the foundation is offering scholarships to support further education in software and computer engineering to outstanding students.

He said, “We don’t just stop at this training that we’ve started. We are stepping up our game by giving scholarships to those who want to go further.

“We can give them scholarships to study software engineering or computer engineering. It’s not just picking people randomly. Because when the time comes, after writing their WAEC, and you have the required grades to be admitted to school, and your parents cannot afford to pay for your education, I’m assuring you the foundation is willing to support such students.”

The event also featured the presentation of certificates to students who participated in a computer science training program.