By Dickson Omobola, edited by Sola Ogundipe

As a way of saving Nigeria from its numerous socio-economic challenges, organisers of STEAM Fun Fest have tasked children under the age of 18 on the significance of acquiring technological skills, saying it is the solution to the nation’s problems.

Speaking in Lagos during the “STEAM Fun Fest 2023,” the Co-Founder, 9ijakids, Titi Adewusi, said experts were invited to teach the children about the skills needed to aid national development, noting that building a better future for Nigeria should be a joint goal.

Adewusi said: “It is an all-day event to spark interest for children in science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics. It is about letting them experience these skills hands-on. Some of these include robotics, mathematics, animation and coding. We have a steam lab for them to learn these things.

“We want to give children the skills of the future because these skills can help in solving problems and critical thinking. When children have steam education, a lot of these skills can be built. We have experts here to tell the children about the skills of the future so that we can build the Nigeria of tomorrow that we want.

“We have moved past the stage of cramming; technology now runs the world. We have eight labs where we will teach game development, animation, coding, science experiment, UI/UX design and coding among others.”

Also  speaking, Founder of Future Africa, Mr. Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, said: “The conversation that I am constantly having with young people is that the future of the country rests in their hands because the vast majority of the population, according to the United Nations, UN, is under the age of 18, which means that they have a special responsibility to the country.

“They are not just tomorrow’s consumers they are also tomorrow’s producers. The skills that they are learning here are superpowers that they have to use with all sense of responsibility. First, they have to love the nation and be excited about its future interests.

“Second, they have to understand that the country desperately needs solutions to its problems. The skills that they have are exactly what are needed to make people’s lives easier.

The Product Manager of Youth Segment, Access Bank, Mr. Omoyola Oladipupo, added: “Technology is the future and it needs to be leveraged to scale.

We have a summer boot camp for kids on robotics and drones, organised by the innovation arm of Access Bank. There, children can meet and brainstorm to come up with ideas that can revolutionise the industry.”