AYITI 4.0

What are you raising money for?

I have a dream for Nigeria, that our people will no longer be known for cyber-criminality but as a hub for building top notch software for social change. I watched my dad struggle with finances when I was a child. My father could barely provide for the family. The heavy weight of responsibility was bestowed on my mother. She is a hair dresser. She had a saloon that is not able to sustain a family consisting of 5 people. She did everything to bring smile to our faces. My father managed to learn how to fabricate machines as a vocational skill while growing up. He accumulated so much debt because his income is irregular and unpredictable such that he could barely bring back home anything from the sales of his machines. He fell in depression almost every time. I remembered a night my dad came back with some bread he bought on his way from work. We all greeted him with so much joy and gratitude that he almost started crying. This was not because we appreciated the act but because this is an experience we have never had in many years. Especially coming from him. This is not to say he is not doing his best but he barely smiles. Programming got me my best memories and opportunities to be who I want to be. I want to bring out other children from extreme poverty, teach and mentor them on how to be ethical computer programmers for social change.

Why are you raising the funds?

Children from poor homes are forced into child labour, organised crimes and social vices. When they become adults, the life of crime is not new to them. They want to escape poverty, so they resort to illegal activities and internet scams seems the easiest with less physical involvement. Societal pressure, with so much expectation from the male child to take care of their parents when they are old is a contributing factor that makes some of the youths go into cyber fraud. Eroded moral values in the society can be strongly linked with corruption and political impunity after the financial crisis in 1980. The society’s praise of people with questionable wealth pose a big problem by systematically endorsing their illicit act. Negative influence from role models is another reason cybercrime persists and keeps spreading. Cheap internet and accessibility of smart phones also contributed to the menace by increasing access to a medium where scams could be carried out with ease. The materialistic lifestyle of Nigerians also contributes a big deal to the menace as expressed in songs and how people live. The needs of children growing up from this background can be traced to effective role models and exposure to an alternative that gives better options compare to their reality. It is easier to build a child than to mend an adult. Children between the ages 9 and 13 years are in their developmental age and should be the focus of solving this problem.

What will the funds raised help achieve?

Through this project, we will be training 20 children on open source computer programming language and how to use this to create solutions for community development. The training will run for 52 Saturdays spread over a year. At the end of this training program we are hopeful that the children will become peer mentors to at least 5 children within their communities. The training program will introduce the children to : 1. Algorithm and data structure. 2. Open source programming languages (Python, PHP, Mysql) tailored for social impact. 3. Knowledge of programming language framework. 4. Object Oriented Programming (OOP) 5. Bash programming. 6. Linux operating system and Developers operations. 7. Version control tools (Git repository). 8. Use of project management tool (Trello) 9. Peer review and peer coding. 10. User experience and Design thinking. 11. Software development life cycle, best practices and programming ethics. 12. Exposure trips to NGOs solving social problems. 13. Stakeholders meetings for finding solution to problems. 14. Experiential learnings of effect and consequence of cybercrimes (involving Nigeria Police Force)