RETHINK HOW YOU THINK AND BUILD A NEW NIGERIA

IN A DIGITAL ECONOMY: YOUTH MOTIVATION.

BY

ABDULRAHMAN HADI BADAMASI

HEAD E-PORTAL UNIT
FEDERAL COLLEGE OF EDUCATION KANO

REPRESENTING
MUHAMMAD JEGA
CEO EMERGE TECH AFRICA

PRESENTED AT

THE NIGERIA DIGITAL INNOVATION CONFERENCE 2016

MUSA ABDULLAHI AUDITORIUM

BAYERO UNIVERSITY KANO

FRIDAY 19TH AUGUST 2016

A Digital economy refers to an economy that is based on digital computing
technologies. The digital economy is sometimes referred to as Internet
Economy, the New Economy, or Web Economy.

The digital economy with networking and communication infrastructures

provides a universal platform where individuals and organizations devise
strategies, interact, communicate, collaborate and also search and disseminate
information.

The main components of a digital economy are

 Supporting infrastructure (hardware, software, telecoms, networks, etc.),

 E-business (any process that an organization conducts over computer-
mediated networks is known as e-business),
 E-commerce (transfer of goods from the seller to the buyer, for example
when a book is sold online)
 E-government (Government to citizens G2C, Government to Business
G2B, Government to Government G2G)

E-government is the use of information technology in general to provide

citizens and organizations with more convenient access to government
information and services and to provide delivery of public services to citizens,
business partners, and those working in the public sector.

In other words, it is also describe as a model of government providing goods,

services, or information to businesses and individual citizens.

Now that we have set our boat on course, and the theme of this conference is
Building a new Nigeria in a digital economy, I will like to focus more on e-
government, and share personal memory to serve as a wakeup call to my
brothers and sisters present.

During the final year of my undergraduate studies back in 2011, I could

remember me and my friends discussing about an idea of building an online
retail website like ebay.com when we return back home. At that time we wear
ignorant of governmental and non-governmental organisation that can help us
nurture our idea into a big giant and successful company, so we had to leave our
ideas on paper and codes, which is heartbroken especially by seeing how others
have tapped into the economy with same idea and are doing really good in the
business.
Why I am saying this is because I want the students present to rethink how they
think, it is not just about the class of your degree (first class or second class
upper), it has to do with your potentials, what you can personally innovate, you
should therefore brain storm on things around you, think of a way you can
digitalise and improve on products, process or services from its tradition method
to an electronic one, and I believe you can do it.

An example of such is about the Town Hall meeting set up in various towns by
the federal government to seek for problem and discuss about the issues raised
to provide a lasting if not a permanent solution. Put a stop there and ask WHY
NOT ONLINE, why not create a platform for it and categorize it by states
followed by constituency and then local government and finally to a ward level.
Citizen will be able to lodge complain directly to the government and tag their
ward, local government and state, it will result to a faster response because there
will be less paper work and the information provided will be in real time.

Second about the issues environmental health and the mandate of the Kano state
government to keep our town the ancient city of Kano clean. You can take this
opportunity to develop a platform be it a website or a mobile application, that
will inform the government about your sanitation activity, that you have cleared
you gutter and unwanted waste and that you need REMASAB to come, pack
and pick it, it may be free and they may decide to charge little amount of token.
Your environment will stay clean and healthy.

Fire service app, which can be use to alert the fire service department to send
aid from the nearest station.

All these can be done but you have to believe in yourself and believe you can
make it; I will like to close by once again repeating this clause ‘rethink how you
think’, the CHANGE starts from you.

Thank you very much

Abdulrahman Hadi Badamasi

08101214776

abdhabads@gmail.com, abdhabads@hotmail.com .