African women ‘making what’s next’

From inventing windshield wipers to coming up with solutions to improve the lives of millions of people around the world, women have been harnessing the power of technology to do great things for their communities, families and themselves since as early as the 18^thcentury.

In Africa, women have also made their mark on the world. Take Kenyan-born Juliana Rotich for example. Rotich is the co-founder and executive director of Ushahidi – a web-based reporting system that uses crowdsourced data, mobile phones and web reporting to formulate real-time visual maps during crises. Or, Mariéme Jamme from Senegal, who is the CEO of the London-based SpotOne Global Solutions, as well as the co-founder of African Gathering, a global platform that brings together entrepreneurs and experts to exchange ideas about Africa’s development.

To mark International Women’s Day this year, we are celebrating the dynamic doers, the trail-blazing trendsetters and the unsung heroes from four countries across Africa who are using technology to #MakeWhatsNext:

Sayu Abend – Nigeria“Women need to be bold, strong and driven to pursue their dreams. Create your own future and not one society has mapped out for you.”

Sayu Abend is the CEO and founder of a company called Spacepointe, which is a retail technology company that aims to bridge the gap between SMEs and their target market through technology-based business management.

But before being a CEO, Sayu is a mother and a wife first.

Finding the balance between running a highly successful company and spending quality time with her family is one of her biggest challenges.

However, with the help of technology, Sayu is able to maintain a healthy balance between her family and remaining productive in her business. In addition to using Microsoft’s suite of productivity tools both in her personal and professional life, she also hosts Spacepointe’s entire platform on the Azure Cloud.

Sayu’s message for young women wanting to pursue a career in technology:
“Do not pursue a career in STEM just for the sake of it. Technology is a means to an end. Find a problem in an area you are interested in and solve it. Don’t only solve it because it affects you personally, but solve it because it makes the world you live in a better place.”

Sayu Abend – Nigeria

Dr Wuleta Lemma – Ethiopia“I’m showing young women it CAN be done”

Originally from Ethiopia, Dr Wuleta comes from a long line of tough women who believed that women should be given an equal opportunity to succeed in life. And succeed is exactly what Dr Wuleta did. Growing up in one of the most turbulent periods in Ethiopia’s history, Dr Wuleta was able to overcome extreme adversity to study degrees in medicine, epidemiology and international health abroad.

With a deep love for Africa and a strong desire to develop home-born solutions for the African continent, she returned to her motherland. Dr Wuleta decided to marry her love for IT with the knowledge she had gained in medicine, by developing an e-health system to improve healthcare operations in Ethiopia. The system, called the TenaCare, is currently being used in over 3000 facilities. She has also developed ICT-enabled training centres and programmes in conjunction with local universities and colleges.

In addition to using Microsoft technologies like Visual Studio, SQL Server, Windows, Azure and Power BI to power this revolutionary eHealth system, Dr Wuleta is also a self-confessed gadget geek and loves to use technology in her day-to-day routine. This helps her stay productive and balance her busy life.

Dr Wuleta’s message for young women wanting to pursue a career in technology:
“Africa is coming, Africa has a place and young African women are key to making this a reality. They have so much talent, and through my work I want to show young women it can be done.”

Dr Wuleta Lemma – Ethiopia

   

Caroline Nafula – Kenya“Never apologise for having drive and passion”

At only 21 years old, Caroline Nafula, is well on her way to becoming a woman to which all young girls can aspire.

The middle child in a family of girls who are all pursuing degrees in STEM subjects, it’s no surprise that Caroline’s love for science and technology has led her to pursue a degree in IT and business information technology at Strathmore University in Kenya.

After enrolling with the Microsoft MySkills4Afrika programme, Caroline developed the skills needed to create two successful applications. One is called Food Junky, which is an online directory for street vendors. The other is an e-cards website calledthoughtfulwishes.co.ke, which redefines the way people view, use and send e-cards.

Caroline owes much of her early success to her MySkills4Afrika mentors, Nate Koweda and Patrick Ngatchou, who are both based in America. Despite the distance, Caroline’s mentors have contributed greatly to her growth as a developer. “We use Skype and Outlook to keep in touch. My mentors have been able to teach me new tricks and hacks that have enhanced my coding skills. This wouldn’t have been possible without technology to connect us.”

Caroline’s message for young women wanting to pursue a career in technology:
“You should never apologise for having drive and passion. Life is too short to second guess yourself and not pursue what you really want. Block out the noise, block out the doubts and discouraging remarks. Tell yourself you can do it. If you are a young woman contemplating a career in STEM, go for it! This in the one field that makes you best placed to change the lives of millions of people all over the world.”

Caroline Nafula – Kenya

Lebogang Madise – South Africa“To all the young women out there – you are science, you are engineering and you can shape the future through technology and mathematics.”

Lebogang Madise developed a love affair with her computer when she was in primary school, but she never in her wildest dreams believed she would pursue a career in technology. However, her future had other plans in store for her. Lebogang’s love for computers and technology was so strong that it inspired in her the desire to learn how to code and develop solutions that could change the world. 

She is now a facilitator for mobile-tech startups at mLab. She also works as a committee member for IEEE SIGHT (Special Interest Group in Humanitarian Technology). IEEE is the world’s largest professional association dedicated to advancing technological innovation for the benefit of humanity.

Lebogang’s message for young women wanting to pursue a career in technology:“You can be anything you want to be, irrespective of your background. You don’t need permission to dream big. Take that first step, don’t be afraid to fail, you have it in you to invent the next big thing. You are science, you are engineering and you can shape the future through technology and mathematics. Don’t expect it to be easy though. It will be challenging, not because you are a woman, but because STEM careers are generally more mentally stimulating careers.”

Lebogang Madise – South Africa

Microsoft remains committed to closing the gender gap and creating even more opportunities for women to innovate, create and unlock the best opportunities for their future. Last year, Microsoft launched a new movement calling on young women and girls to #MakeWhatsNext. The campaign raises awareness of the issues that cause girls to drop out of or lose interest in studying science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM), and aims to pique their excitement and educate them in how they can change the world — if they stay engaged.

The response to #MakeWhatsNext  makes it clear that girls’ passion is strengthened when they see female role models who have created innovations that are used in our everyday lives. As the motto goes, “If you see it, you can be it.”

For more inspirational stories of women in technology, watch this video.

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Kidnapping acts in Lagos

Ansaru

At about 3pm on Friday, February 24, 2017, I received a phone call. The caller was Bola Frazer. She introduced herself as the producer of a programme on Channels Television. She expressed the station’s growing concern about the spate of kidnappings in Lagos and the need to seek expert opinion on how to curb the menace. She was, therefore, inviting me to appear on the programme scheduled for 7:30pm that Friday evening.
It was an opportunity for me to express my view in the raging debate on the menace of kidnapping in the country, particularly the disturbing dimension it has taken in Lagos. But then, the notice was too short for me. So, I politely expressed my gratitude for having been contacted, but, at the same time, expressed my inability to take up the offer due to my tight schedule. I promised I could be available in the future.
The brief encounter with Bola struck a chord in me. The result is this piece you are reading. There is, no doubt, a need to proffer practical solutions to the burning issue of kidnapping in Lagos and its environs. As we all know, most of the kidnappers are itinerant criminals who come in once in a while to unleash terror on the peace-loving people of Lagos. They often disappear through the creeks, back to their hideouts in the riverine areas of Ondo, Delta, Rivers, Edo states and other places. Generally, kidnapping is a global phenomenon. It was introduced big time into the country in the 1990s by aggrieved militants in the Niger Delta struggle. Since then, it has become a thriving business that attracts more and more criminally-minded individuals all over the place. Today, it has spread to almost all parts of the country because of the illicit and mouth-watering financial reward involved in the heinous crime.
A number of state governments have come up with severe measures, including the death penalty, to dissuade people from engaging in the criminal act, but it has not deterred the perpetrators. From Calabar to Maiduguri, Lagos to Yenagoa, Benin to Kano, Kaduna and even Abuja, the story is the same. Many lives have been lost and a lot of families have been ruined through heavy ransom payment or outright loss of breadwinners or both. In the madness, no one is spared. Children have been yanked off their mothers’ backs while parents are killed or maimed in the presence of their children or family members. The way the kidnappers are going about their nefarious business these days, they seem to be getting more emboldened and sophisticated by the day.
Sadly, the response by the security agents, especially the police, the agency constitutionally empowered to enforce internal security, is tardy and very worrisome. In most of the cases the police claim they have cracked, huge sums of money for ransom may have been involved, although the police are usually quick to add that “no ransom” was paid. Besides, it takes them almost eternity to crack some of these kidnap cases, thereby allowing the victims to languish precariously in the dungeon of the kidnappers for several days under intense psychological and physical torture, including hunger, sex abuse and all that.
In Lagos, in spite of the huge sum of money put into the state’s Security Trust Fund by the state government, blue-chip companies and other well-meaning individuals, the spate of kidnapping has assumed an epidemic proportion. It is quite obvious that there are visible lapses in the command structure of the current security arrangement in place in the state. Today, the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) put in place and heavily funded by the state to checkmate crime, especially violent crimes, seems to be clay-footed. They now concentrate more on extortion and patrolling streets in highbrow areas of the state dominated by the rich and upscale individuals. This is one of the reasons why the kidnappers may have been having a free reign.
In some other instances, patrol vehicles are diverted for the personal use of the officers and men of the outfit, instead of gathering intelligence and responding swiftly to distress calls. Mostly at weekends, you see the vehicles carrying gaily-dressed men and women going out to parties or coming from shopping in markets and shopping malls.
The number of policemen attached to the RRS may be overwhelming, but they are mostly used by politicians and land-owners to settle land disputes and flaunt their importance in the society. They run rings around politicians who are curious to use them as status symbols. If you drive, say, from Onikan to Epe, you may not come across any of the patrol teams on the road. Instead, they go to places like Apapa to extort money from port users, leaving the water line porous. From Marina, Epe, Ikorodu, the police are hardly visible. In Marina, what they do is to simply push the smugglers to Takwa Bay where they are extorted.
Now, what’s the essence of buying helicopters, vehicles, motorcycles and properly equipping the police in Lagos if criminals, especially kidnappers, are constantly having a field day? The fact is that the militants-turned-kidnappers largely operate on the state waterways. It was from there they attacked the school in Ikorodu last year as well as staged the recent attack on the Turkish School through the creek; they also attacked targets in Epe and Festac area through the creek.
I have always thought that there is a marine police unit, but they seem to be fast asleep and snoring. Recently, I drove from Epe through Ijebu-Ode. I only came across two RRS patrol vehicles on that axis, with the operatives extorting road users. Basically, the waterways in Lagos are porous and unmanned. It is as if no lessons have been learnt from the rampant and debilitating criminal activities going on around the creeks.
It is pertinent to state that Lagos must change its security architecture. However, it is a sort of relief to see that the Lagos State government recently came up with a strong strategy to curb the menace. The police or the security agencies need to deploy along the coastal lines. The RRS, Operation Mesa, the Navy and others should go on regular patrols. One strange thing is that rather than concentrate on crime busting, RRS, which is supposed to be a quick-response force, is now bogged down with investigation of crimes and all that. They now have an investigation department in Alausa. This is a serious negation of their mandate because the initial vision has been bastardised.
Also, the marine police should be strengthened if they are to make any significant impact. Places like Onikan, Epe, Badagry, Ikorodu, Gbagada, are where Operation Mesa teams and the RRS should be visible along the coastal line. If you venture to Ajegunle or Okokomaiko today, you don’t notice any patrol vehicles while their vehicles cluster around Ikoyi, Victoria Island and other highbrow places. Robbers too have been using the creeks to stage attacks in Lekki Phase 1 and other places.
Lagos State should create a good and effective security hub because the state is surrounded by water. These criminals carry out their attacks using the waterways as amphibious landing spots and takeoff points. Therefore, there should be consistent patrols on the stretch of water from Marina to Epe, Ikorodu and other places. Above all, there is the need for security agencies in Lagos to be vigilant. Their welfare also needs to be looked into as some of them are said to be pulling out of the RRS to other formations as a result of the poor welfare package.
Finally, the current commissioner of police in the state should not create an island to himself. He should constantly rub minds with other stakeholders to proffer the best solution to this growing problem because nobody is a repository of knowledge. However, if the situation persists, godfather or no godfather, a change of leadership of the police in the state may become inevitable.

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Lagos- Ibadan rail project to be completed in 2018 – Osinbajo

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has flagged off the N458 billion Lagos – Ibadan segment II modern railway project, assuring that the project would be completed within the time frame of December 2018.

Osinbajo, who spoke at the ground breaking ceremony held at Nigerian Railway Corporation premises in Ebute Metta, Lagos, described the development as a reflection of the Federal Government plan to build a globally competitive economy with first grade infrastructure.

He said the development of a functional railway system in the country is very dear to President Muhammadu Buhari, adding that the ground breaking of the Lagos-Ibadan project further signifies the determination of the President to modernize the national railway system.

Osinbajo said, “The President in his January 2016 visit to China reopened negotiation on the Chinese support for this project, secondly this ceremony also marks the commencement of our plan to move speedily to improve links with Lagos which is the national economic nerve centre and major port to other state capitals across the country.

“We made provision for matching funds in 2016 budget to complement the concession loans obtain from the People Republic of China. We have the entire Lagos- Kano rail track as well as the Lagos-Calabar railway track in the 2017 budget.”

The acting president said negotiations has been completed on the next phase of Kaduna –Kano portion, saying the government has provided the counterpart funding for the Lagos-Calabar routes.

He added that negotiations with the foreign counterpart funding will be finalized within the next three months.

He added: “An active and vibrant railway system conferred many benefit on the society. Our ultimate goal is to restore a railway using culture for both commercial and personal transportation. We are confident that the national rail project will create up to half a million jobs and facilitate the movement of up to 3.2 tons of cargo per annum.

“It will also reduce the burden on national highways thus reducing deterioration of the road network and increasing the life span of our roads.”

He stressed that railway network will support efforts to diversify the economy and enhance the country export potentials.

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Teenage golf prodigy Oboh to visit Greensprings

Teenage golf sensation, Georgia Oboh will on Thursday March 9 visit Greensprings School, Lagos as part of her effort to promote golf in schools.

Oboh, who is the 2015 U.S. Kids Golf Teen World Champion, will be joined by her parents during the one-day interaction with the students and management of the school.

The 16-year-old  made history recently as the youngest, first black girl or woman of African origin to compete as an amateur and professional in the Ladies Professional Golfers Association of America (LPGA) tournament, after competing at the qualifiers for the 2017 LPGA first tournament of the Year (the Pure Silk Bahamas) earlier this year.

Oboh is currently one of the most highly rated female golfers out of Africa and she was the continent’s best player at the Junior Orange Bowl International Invitational in the US; she also took part in the 2016 US Women’s Open qualifier in Florida, a professional tournament with 20 professional golfers in the field.

She has equally  been given a wildcard to the 2017 VP Bank Ladies Open in Switzerland.

Georgia Oboh started golf at six with encouragement from her parents. “My parents began playing golf when I was only four; I started taking lessons when I was six. A few months later, I began competing at a local and regional level (in rain, wind or cold almost every weekend in the UK). Starting with the British Junior Golf tour at seven, I was given the handicap of 36. But it all really took off when I was named Junior Golfer of the Year in 2008 by the BJGT and also that year I watched the British Ladies Open with my parents and got a ball from the then ladies number-one player Lorena Ochoa. I really got motivated that day to be the best player that I can be in the sport,” she said recently about her foray into golf.

  On her dream, she said: “I would like to see myself on the LPGA Tour as an active member and to make history as the first African woman on tour and also the first Nigerian woman. Rising through the ranks, on my way to win majors and eventually hold the rank as the best female pro golfer. I pray that God will help me in this goal and also I hope to have great sponsors who can help. The travel and training expenses can be quite high so we are praying to get a great group of sponsors come to our aid.

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