Today I was invited to the University of Abuja to give a lecture on Building a Sustainable Digital Economy as Guest speakerI

I also received an award as the Youth Ambassador of Peace

Murtala: The story of a young aspiring aviation engineer

Murtala AbdurRahman is a young man with an exceptional talent, intelligence and character who dreams of becoming an aviation engineer. Our shared interest in building Bespoke Drones resulted to our meeting early this year in Zaria, Kaduna State.

I have seen several of his creations which include an electric vehicle, electric bicycle, collection drones, a remote-controlled vehicle, a power bank for charging the mobile phone that he made from a recycled-laptop battery and other variety of interesting gadgets. It also clears from the different versions of drones that he continually strives for improvement in every aspect of his creations. 

Murtala acquired his skills and abilities through self-taught and more interestingly he recycle most of the materials and tools he finds around him. Keep in mind that this young lad has only recently completed his secondary school. 

There are many more stories of young persons like Murtala who are exceptionally talented and skilled yet they never realised their fullest potential. With the right mentoring, support and funding such dreams can become a reality. There are numerous kids such as Murtala that need to be mentored and encouraged to take the right course at university where their talents and skills could nurture complemented with the necessary knowledge and tools to excel. I strongly believe Murtala and like-minded would undoubtedly add immense value to themselves as well as have a positive impact towards the development of their immediate communities. 

As published on Daily Trust on 20 Nov 2017 - https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/murtala-the-story-of-a-young-aspiring-aviation-engineer.html

MC @ AUN Speech Contest

On 21st April 2017, I served as the Masters of the Ceremony (MC) at the first ever speech Contest titled Burn to Speak at the American University of Nigeria Yola. I listen to some amazing speakers at the contest.

SOHO CLUB AT SOHO DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION IN KATSINA CITY

The Soho Club in Katsina City set up to accelerate the develop human capacity, where the Founder Dr Dan-Mallam Muktar serves as the Club President and I serve as his Vice. The club doubles as a book club. It is also to serve as a platform to share ideas and exchange views as it affects our daily lives in Katsina and Nigeria as a whole. We will be also engaging in watching selected movies of good moral values and other fun and recreation activities such as board games etc.  This event runs once a week at Soho Development Foundation in Katsina State.

DRONES FOR STORYTELLING TELLING: A HOMEMADE DRONE EXPERIENCE

On the 18th August 2017, I was invited to the launch of Hacks/Hackers (#HHABJ) Abuja community in partnership with Ventures Park. I gave a 20-minute speech to the community about using drones for community development and storytelling. My discussion was on the applicable uses of drones. I highlighted the possibility of using drones to promote science technology engineering mathematics (stem) education. I also gave the account of my journey in developing home Drones with recycled materials. The event was attended by various media house across the Nation.

Project Angulu

The following are videos of my drone projects in Action: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoKeDa4R4qc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ium2qws3Ak0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S85S6I2VsbY

AFRICAN-CHINA COOPERATION IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY: PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES.

On 28th June 2018, I served as a contributing participant in session 1 of the conference title "Partnering Information Communication Technology and the Digital Economy in Africa Development"

The conference was themed African China Cooperation in Information Technology and Digital Economy: Prospects and Challenges. The event was organised by the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) in association with the People's Republics of China Embassy in Nigeria and Hauwei technologies.

The event was held in the Sheraton hotel and towers in Abuja and Chaired by the Chairman, Senate committee on foreign affairs (representative)

As a contributing participant, I gave a review of the 5 papers presented at the first session conference to provide an in-depth analysis and feedback on each paper
and offered valuable insights and critiques.

This was to enable the audience to understand the papers better – although there was a limited time offered which made it inadequate to give detailed feedback for the strengths and weaknesses of each paper.

As a prerequisite for development and securing investments, I emphasised the need to ensure the cybersecurity domain is fully ready in accordance with global best practices to ensure that our developmental objectives are met.

I also highlighted the need for the Chinese government to consider working with the Nigerian government and other Africa governments in the mediation for peace and stability of African nations. The Chinese government has currently a policy of non-interference in economies in which they operate. It is important to note that no security means no investment.

NIGERIA FIRST LEGISLATIVE STAKEHOLDERS CONFERENCE ON ICT AND CYBERSECURITY HOSTED BY THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON ICT AND CYBERCRIME

On the 8th of November 2017, I was invited to a conference to serve as an expert panellist on a national discussion that has a significant effect on our national economic development. As a panel, we each gave different views as to how best the National Assembly through the Senate can create enabling laws in the area of Cyber-Security and ICT.

Inaguration of the committee on Cybersecurity and ICT to work with the Senate on Laws to support the Tech industry, After the confrence.

CREATIVE HUB: PROMOTION OF STEM EDUCATION THROUGH ROBOTICS

On the 10th of Nov 2017, Victor Ibrahim and I hosted a Robotics class with a group of selected children from three different secondary schools. The idea was to promote STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) courses through practical means. The experience was truly amazing. The one-day training was done in partnership with the American Corner in Abuja.

BREAKFAST CHAT MENTORSHIP SERIES WITH DR ALBABA BABANGINA

On 29th April 2018, I hosted the incumbent rector of Katsina State Institute of Technology and Management (KSITM) Dr. Albaba Babangida. Prior to his appointment as rector, he was the lecturer at Umaru Musa Yar`adua University in Katsina and the University of Brighton in the UK. He has a Ph.D. in Computing and Networking from the University of Brighton and MSc in computer systems and network engineering.  His profile is nothing less than a representation of excellence that was attained through hard work. The interview was guided by ten questions which I presented to him, this provided us with information about how his journey has been. He informed us that despite minor challenges in life he was able to forge ahead. We also had a demo pitching session to enable our guest to provide feedback to the startup. This event was hosted at Kirkira Innovation hub in Katsina state in the Northern part of Nigeria.

Dr Albaba on the left-hand side

BREAKFAST CHAT MENTORSHIP SERIES WITH HASHIRU DAURA

On 31st March 2018, I curated  the first ever breakfast chat mentorship series. This event was hosted at Kirkira Innovation hub in Katsina state in the Northern part of Nigeria. The event was largely a success due to the hard work and dedication of the wonderful team.
Hashiru Daura was the guest of the day. He shared his experiences which covered his journey to the top, this included his challenges and his future aspiration. Hashiru was the first person in West Africa to attain the Cisco design expert certification. He currently works with Ciscos Systems as Technical Leader Services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Masters in degree in strategic management from Harvard University. The turnout was amazing and we all learned a lot from Hashiru, he was generous enough to tell us more of how he got to where he is which is nothing short of inspiring.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS AND WORKSHOP FACILITATION ON KADUNA STATE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT POLICY AND E-GOVERNMENT

On 9th April 2018, I was invited to serve to provide a keynote address at for Kaduna state new policy on public procurement and e-government. The 20 minutes speech highlighted all the issues that will be discussed during the one workshop. I promoted the importance of the new public procurement policy and provided in-depth explanation of e-government. I highlighted how the concept of OGD (Open Government Data) can be applied by the local government area in Kaduna to ensure positive development with the use of ICT (Information and communication technology). I also facilitated an hour of interactive training during the workshop and focused on open government data the theme of the governance and the implementation of Kaduna state procurement: tool for effective administration. The event was hosted by Kaduna state ministry of local government and chieftaincy affairs.