By Emeka Aginam

As the market for indigenous software shrinks in the face of lack of government support, participants at the just concluded Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria, (ISPON) roundtable rose, saying that except local software is retooled for job creation through software engineering, Nigerian quest reduce the level of unemployment may be far fetched.

Speaker after speaker at the roundtable on how software development can be used for capacity building and job creation in Nigeria believed that software engineers can create millions of jobs if given the enabling environment .

Speaking at the event, Chairman, National Software Policy Committee, (NSPC) Prof. Wole Akinyokun told partcipants that Nigeria must work hard to develop its indigenous talents for the challenges ahead, adding that Nigeria cannot afford to miss out in this critical assignment of software engineering for job creation.

“What is the future of Nigeria without indigenous software? Software is the centre of gravity of human existence. We must leverage on the opportunities available in the local software application for job creation,” he said. “ It is a resource that must be tapped to building our economy and provide jobs for our ever growing unemployment rate,” he added.

For ISPON President, Chris Uwaje, Nigeria cannot afford to neglect local software.

“Nigeria cannot afford to miss out on this critical phase of human development – with a youthful population of more than 65% of the total, we can leverage on this manpower to harness our intellectual prowess and curb youth restiveness. This Software Roundtable seeks to identify, address and resolve the challenges of building software knowledge capital by harnessing the potentials and youthful strength in our nation, to build Software skill capacities and provide a sustainable interface between education and the Industry.” he said.

Meanwhile, Tomi Davies, moderator of the roundtable had earlier done an expose on the global software industry, focusing on relevant countries like India, Israel and Ireland. He demonstrated how these countries developed their software industry and what lessons can be drawn from there.

In the opinion of Anayo Agu, Senior Commercial Specialist at the American Embassy, there was need for ISPON to understand the problem of the Nigerian market and follow the theory of competitive advantage.

“We can look at other markets and copy best practice. I believe it will help us to know where we are going to and what we will achieve eventfully” the architect of CTO exhibition said.

Participants at the end of discussions reached a consensus on the type of model, policy and institutional framework that should be put in place.

On model, the roundtable agreed to develop one that is Nigerian, by working out, adopting and domesticating best practice from other countries by leveraging on the uniqueness of the local environment and peoples’ needs. Also, it was agreed that there was need to understand the local needs and environment, and develop an integrated model that is simple, functional, empowering and sustainable.

The roundtable, sponsored by the Cross Rivers State Government also agreed to develop policies and strategies in context of the model chosen, recognising the plurality of digital domains whether in the public/private sector, local/foreign, and other categories.