A Village Among Us

1. A Village Among Us Partnering to Empower Youth Through the Lagos Digital Village ‘Gbenga Sesan Program ManagerLagos Digital Village www.lagosdigitalvillage.org.ngwww.gbengasesan.com | me@gbengasesan.com ITU/KADO WSIS Thematic Meeting on MSPs and the Digital Divide.Seoul,Korea. June 23/24, 2005

2. ICTs in Nigeria… • Following obvious global directions and internal motivation/need, Nigeria (population: 128m) has been taking ICTs a lot more serious than what we had in the late 90s • At the moment, we have specialised government agencies working around ICTs (IT, telecoms and broadcasting): • National IT Development Agency (NITDA) – www.nitda.gov.ng; • Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) – www.ncc.gov.ng; • Nigerian Cybercrime Working Group (NCWG) – www.ncwg.gov.ng; • National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) – www.nbc-nig.org; and others • Private sector efforts, led by the telecommunications and banking sectors are becoming increasingly evident • ePayment systems, including ongoing banking consolidation and heavy investment in ICTs and system integration • Mobile telephony infrastructure, including Glo 1 (Globacom’s Optic Fibre project) • Competition is obvious within the telecommunications and computing sectors – leading to innovation and promotion of value added services • Nigeria now manufactures and exports PCs – Omatek, Zinox, Beta, UNIC • Mobile applications (M-Banking, FlashMeCash) are being introduced by the day • Partnering with government to deliver the Nigerian eGovernment Strategies Limited

3. ICTs in Nigeria… • Civil Society (media, academia, NGOs, youth, gender, etc) is becoming increasingly involved in national, regional and international processes • There have been several attempts at qualifying ICTs index around the country but it appears that there is no central and authoritative baseline study result (outside the Nigerian indices within global indices) • However, statistics are readily available for the telecommunications sector, and this is not unconnected to the success of mobile telephony in the country • Increasingly, industry players are beginning to see power as a major challenge to the growth of the industry and the Nigerian economy at large – the National Electrical Power Authority (NEPA) is largely regarded as a failed corporation but ongoing reforms are promising change: • A new company (Power Holdings PLC) has been announced and several sub-companies created from the former NEPA

4. ICT Infrastructure in Nigeria… *Fixed telephones has been only about doubled from about 450,000 in 1999 to about 1.2 million, while mobile increased geometrically from 35,000 analogue lines in 1999 to about 12.8 million digital lines by May 2005 (Source: Nigerian Communications Commission)

5. ICT Infrastructure in Nigeria… Total teledensity was 0.4 lines per 100 inhabitants in 1999; reached 1.96 in Dec 2002 It increased to 3.33 in December 2003. By March 2004, the total teledensity was estimated at 3.92 lines per 100 inhabitants(Source: Nigerian Communications Commission)

6. Lagos Digital Village • Free Information Technology training and opportunity centre for Nigeria’s youth: • The vision of the village is to raise “a new generation of Nigerian youth who are well equipped with appropriate Information Technology skills and are well positioned for personal development, nation building and global participation” • Key to bridging the digital divide and opening doors for many underserved young Nigerians, improve their values and quality of life, and help them to attain greatest heights in the educational and job markets in which they would otherwise have never had the opportunity • Multi-stakeholder partnership between Junior Achievement of Nigeria (www.janigeria.org), Microsoft (www.microsoft.com) and the Lagos State Government (www.lagosstate.gov.ng), and it enjoys support from volunteer tutors and the Lagos Mainland Local Government • Commissioned on the 28th of May 2004 by the Executive Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu

7. Lagos Digital Village • Outside training, project has a Lagos State-sponsored cyber café • The cyber café (LDV’s revenue base as a Social Enterprise) houses 39 computers and enjoyed initial internet access through a grant provided by the United States government through the Nigeria-America Information Initiative: • Presently being reactivated after the first vendor’s failure at service provision • Programs presently being run at the village include First Steps (Computer Appreciation); Intricate Details (How to build your own Computer); Work Better (Office Productivity Tools); and Great Leap (Internet and the World Wide Web) • About 300 students trained, and program delivery ranges from 3 weeks to 2 months and courses are taught by a faculty made up of volunteers who are qualified Information Technology instructors who wish to contribute their own quota to the emergence of a New Nigeria where young people can compete favourably with their peers anywhere in the world after they might have been equipped with appropriate Information Technology skills • Additional programs to be introduced in the project’s second year include the Software Development Incubation Program (SDIP) and industry certification training

8. Multistakeholder… • After several meetings and consultations spanning a period of about 2 years, JA Nigeria, Microsoft and the Lagos State Government agreed on the terms of the project • Lagos State Government’s role in the Digital Village project is to provide an enabling environment and bring the project closer to the community • Microsoft’s role in the program is to promote participation of information technology suppliers and champion creative uses and services provided at the Digital Village • JA Nigeria’s role in the Digital Village project is to implement IT and JA programs, coordinate the training activities of the center, and ensure efficient delivery of programs for the benefit of underserved youth • There were initial concerns – government involvement, youth and internet fraud, etc – but the project has shown that those are not the real challenges for MSP projects

9. Barriers and Benefits • Major benefit is the fact that this program helps shine light on the shadow of fears for such partnerships – traditional project delivery is NOT superior to MSPs. Other benefits include: • Stakeholders’ meetings always reveal strengths of partners and how such can meet others’ incompetencies • Government projects in Nigeria are usually expected to fail but this MSP brought out the strength in government’s access to infrastructure, the private sector’s publicity strategies, and the civil society’s role as the last mile solution provider • The model has become more popular in the country, with an industry vendor promising the roll-out of 5 Digital Villages, and Lagos State working towards additional four • Barriers in this MSP do not lean mostly towards the model, but the environment. They include: • The likelihood that partners get absorbed in other projects that can bring them mileage to the possible detriment of the ongoing project. Who does what when things aren’t working? Though clearly stated in the MOU, partners often delay in response to project • Power supply has been a major challenge in this project. With the National Electric Power Authority’s crippling inefficiency in the Ebute Metta area, about $140 is spent on the generator (60 KVA, donated by Lagos State) each week – Monday through Friday • Inconsistent Internet access (due to first vendor’s failure and inability to pay new VSAT service provider) has eaten deep into the income base of the project • Due to interruption in café income, additional funds (grants) are being sought

10. Lessons & Applications • The first quick lesson on the project was the need to understand how each project partner operates – and how that defines their vision for the project • It was also enlightening to identify the meeting point between project and partner needs – what each partner seeks to achieve from their involvement in the project • Cost savings can come through the use of volunteers for programs’ delivery – serving as both tutors and mentors • The MSP model is easily replicable in other locations – either developing or developed – with only the need to identify characteristic operating conditions and reflect the same in the project development and operation plan • Example: Benue State Government visited the LDV. After a physical tour and discussion on Benue’s perculiarities, we sat down and identified the possible challenges and opportunities while developing the Benue Digital Village

11. LDV in Pictures… LDV is housed in the Lagos Mainland Local Government Library, a renovated building…

12. LDV in Pictures… The days before project take-off, at a Stakeholders’ meeting…

13. LDV in Pictures… The LDV hosted the training of Lagos State secondary school ICT teachers …

14. LDV in Pictures… The Honourable Commissioner for Science and Technology stresses a point…

15. LDV in Pictures… Mr. Chris Uwaje (Graduation Keynote Speaker) hands out one of the first certificates…

16. LDV in Pictures… Lagos Mainland Local Government Chairman assists Mr. Uwaje in demystifying ICTs…

17. LDV in Pictures… Stakeholders, LDV staff and students on graduation day for the first batch of students…

18. LDV in Pictures… Emeka (Great Leap) has worked on two jobs to raise money for tuition at the University

19. Conclusion • Feedback from our programs reveal the level of impact that MSPs can have on young people – who represent the future (work force, decision makers and innovation leaders): • “Frankly speaking, this is the best computer program now because we have enough materials, e.g. computers for every student, no power failure because there is a standby generator, and there are qualified lecturers or instructors who are competent for the program. Finally, the environment is conducive for both lecturers and the students for proper learning. A big thank you to the organizers of the program. I am also using this opportunity to inform the management of the LDV to give the present students another chance for further programs because the duration of the program is short, please in the name of Almighty God. Thanks for your cooperation.” – Emiabata Razaq Olanipekun, First Steps student • “Well, to me, it’s been wonderful all the way. LDV is where I get free computer training on Internet and the World Wide Web (Great Leap), making the general notion that “there is no free lunch in Lagos” a taboo! If you’re not involved, sorry oh, you are missing a lot. It is real and educating, come and ride along.”– Emeka Onyenekwe, 20, Great Leap student • Volunteers are increasingly discovering the need for mentorship and are willing to commit time to helping with the delivery of programs: • “As a volunteer instructor, I want to commend the project initiators for the idea to create awareness and train young people in Information Technology at no cost. I believe it is going to do us a lot of good, since Information Technology education is very expensive and many cannot afford it. It will also serve as an avenue to train the younger ones and impact the knowledge in them at an early age so that they can meet up with the world, which has become a global village through Information Technology, so as to reshape our own part of the world.” – Bobby Bright, Volunteer Tutor • The Social Enterprise model will help MSPs that have a leaning towards non-profit work to sustain themselves and depend less on infrequent donor support

20. THANK YOU Partnering to Empower Youth Through the Lagos Digital Village ‘Gbenga Sesan Program ManagerLagos Digital Village www.lagosdigitalvillage.org.ngwww.gbengasesan.com | me@gbengasesan.com ITU/KADO WSIS Thematic Meeting on MSPs and the Digital Divide.Seoul,Korea. June 23/24, 2005