Zarttech, a software development company, has revealed pathways to skill development, empowerment, self-reliance, and a rewarding career through its youth-centric and solution-driven summit, “How To Win With Tech Summit,” which was held on October 17, 2024.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Nelson Ajulo, the chief executive officer of Zarttech, emphasized that Nigeria needs individuals who think differently to address the plague of ignorance and set the pace for excellence, which would have a profound impact on the national economy and the country as a whole.
“We need people who think differently to advise on what the standard should be. There is a general saying that ignorance is a plague. If we create more awareness, people will know, or at least we should provoke a sense of reasoning. We believe that people are smart enough; we are blessed with incredibly intelligent individuals. Sometimes, people don’t know what they don’t know.
“One of the ways to change the negative narratives or perceptions is by creating awareness like we are doing today. Any kind of possibility starts with knowing that it is even possible. I think one of the biggest challenges I have seen in Nigeria is that people don’t even understand what excellence looks like. We have become comfortable with mediocrity and think that it is the norm, but that is not the case.”
The summit, which focused on harnessing opportunities within the tech industry through innovation, was attended by professionals from the Consulate of the Netherlands.
Elizabeth Oladepo, a member of the Youth Advisory Committee to the Consulate of the Netherlands in Nigeria, who attended the event noted that the government of the Netherlands is keen on youth development through various programs such as incubation support, grants, agriculture, circular economy, and entrepreneurship. She mentioned that through collaboration with Zarttech, the Netherlands government is bridging the gap in digital education and technological innovation.
“Zarttech is well-known by the Netherlands government, so through Zarttech, they are able to employ young people through digital education, which will help bridge the gap in digital education and technological innovation in the future. We have many young people out there without jobs due to a shortage of soft skills. With Zarttech’s implementation of their programs and training, they are doing a lot to bridge that gap, and this program will benefit all Nigerian youth.
“As a member of the Youth Advisory Committee to the Consulate of the Netherlands in Nigeria, one of the dramatic focuses of the government of the Netherlands is youth employment and entrepreneurship. What we currently do at the Consulate is advise on the plans and projects concerning youth. We have amazing projects coming up; we review their plans and provide advice from the youth’s perspective. The Netherlands is committed to focusing on youth. Youth is their strategy, and we are involved in seeing how we can incorporate more youths into their programs, such as incubation support and grants, and how they can engage youth in other sectors like agriculture, circular economy, and entrepreneurship.”
Meanwhile, Nelson further discussed the reality of international job demand and the need for youth to be intentional about acquiring globally relevant skills.
“Many are unaware of what the international or global job demand is, and when they invest, they often spend their parents’ resources on unintended purposes and end up learning skills that are not valuable to employers. When this happens, it becomes clear that they have wasted their time and resources. They must be aware of this, so they can do their research. We hope that this awareness we’ve created today will help the youth.”
Also lending her voice to the discussion, Sonia Fajusipe, Economic Policy Adviser for the Netherlands Consulate in Lagos, noted that self-discipline and vision are good catalysts for the actualization of set goals. “Vision drives individuals; it helps conceptualize who you want to be and how you want to be it.”
“Nigeria has a significant population rate, which means there are more people than available opportunities. However, technology provides leverage. So if you have an opportunity to receive training and develop technology skills, it’s incredible, and the sky’s the limit.”
Reinforcing the central theme of the summit, Sonia, who works as an Economic Policy Adviser and Business Development Portfolio for Healthcare at the Netherlands Consulate in Lagos, added that technology offers numerous opportunities for inclusion and poverty reduction.
“Data is gold; data analysis is a high-demand job currently. But the truth is that technology gives us many opportunities in terms of inclusion, poverty reduction, and much more. You can also leverage technology for the development of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and you’ll be good to go. Seventy percent of these goals can be achieved through software solutions in the sectors of your choice, allowing you to make an impact in Nigeria and then go global.”
She noted that the Netherlands is keen on job creation and improvement. “We don’t just focus on job creation; we also focus on job improvement—assisting jobs already in the value chain that can be enhanced to ensure decent job rates and a minimum wage. For instance, we support startups in their ideation stage. We know that there are many creative and innovative individuals, and if we support them, we can find solutions to local problems.”
Dr. Nelson Ajulo also noted that the awareness created through the summit will help students, youth, government, and policymakers make informed decisions.
“When they see that there is an under subscription for a specific course and oversubscription for others, it naturally signals that they should scale to areas with oversubscription. Where they observe oversubscription, the state government can begin to invest in that area. For instance, if technology contributes about 20% or 10% of economic inflow or multiplication, the federal government might consider investing in technology.
“Assuming all sectors did not grow simultaneously, one can influence another. The biggest power lies with the youth because they can decide where to invest their money and which courses to pursue.”
