Some of Africa’s tech talents are trapped in rural areas – Ekwale

Esiri Ekwale, a software engineering graduate from the American University of Nigeria, is a certified full stack developer, networking administrator and graphic designer with nine years experience. In this interview with KATELEMI CLAUDE, he explains, among other issues, how the skills youths use in cybercrime can be deployed positively for national development

 

Since you graduated from AUN, what have you developed according to your area of study?

As a software engineering graduate from AUN, my focus after graduation has been solving problems via developing applications or carrying out field research. I develop front-end web applications – the view you see on your device using React, which is a JavaScript library. I have developed apps for oil and gas companies, maritime recruitment agencies, events management, fashion shops, school learning management systems, microfinance, hotels and many other IT business solutions.

 

You believe that IT is the future. Do you think this applies to Africa? If so, how can Africa successfully key into that future?

I believe IT is the future. First, we Africans need to evolve at our own pace into this new digital age and one day we too will become a special kind of innovative technological advanced society. Africa is the root of all civilisations; that means we are supposed to be ahead in the tech race.

However, we are lagging behind. Think about it; first when someone thinks of Africa, technology isn’t the first thing that springs up in their minds. Africa is a place of great diversity; cultural backgrounds, religious beliefs, communities, ethnic groups, society with traditional beliefs. Some may see our diversity as our weakness and the reason we are not progressing; but I see it as our strength and our greatest value.

Historically, modern technology is not really ours; it is a necessary tool we adopted because we now know the importance. Yes, technology is the future. However, in the end, we can’t abandon our roots. Our history of hardship plays a major role in why we are behind modern technology.

I believe Africans can key into technology. The modern generation can preserve our history through digitalisation of our African arts, fashion, books, ancient wisdom, archive our languages and local ethnicity for future generations. This is of more distinct value to us as a black race in the digital age and we can key more into advanced tools and technology like 3D printing, animations and other applications to be more valuable as a technological society in the future.

 

Can Nigeria ever have home-made Emeagwalis without looking to other countries to develop our human resources for us?

Philip Emeagwali is a highly respected world-renowned Nigerian computer scientist with foreign education. He is very lucky to find himself in a progressing economy and adequate education system with more doors to better opportunities. He is gifted, no doubt.

Emeagwali is not like the typical Nigerian computer genius in Africa today hustling for years with the constantly depreciating growth of our economy, trying to make a living with any opportunity he can make up from the daily hustle. Truth is, some Nigerians are still trapped in the rural mindset, even when they find themselves in the city.

Most Nigerians are still gradually getting used to modern technology, especially the older generation, making it difficult for all of Africa to be envisioned as a true technological advanced ethnic group. In my opinion, if Africa is going to ever have another Phillip, we must be accepted as a global tech race. To achieve this, we need to bridge the gap between urban and rural areas by providing equal education, and governments provide all citizens with enrichment platforms.

Gifted minds are a dime a dozen, and the next Philip Emeagwali could be in a village somewhere with no food, clothes, clean water or power in the socket; he has that same gift but hasn’t the opportunity to explore his true potential.

 

Recently, Dubai police arrested a Malaysia-based Nigerian known as Hushpuppi for alleged cybercrime involving billions of dollars. How can the cyber talents Nigerians use for criminal activities be harnessed for development?

It is quite unfortunate to be a victim of cybercrime. Cyber security means to secure your personal and financial data. Hacking is a big issue in the cyber world today. The internet is a such a big place – you simply cannot trust any site you visit, if it’s not trusted and secured with a padlock symbol on the web address bar.

Without a doubt, there are many loopholes that can open back doors for any individual who has in-depth knowledge of how the system works. Sometimes, all that is needed is a key to open the back door – your password.

However, there is not much to worry about because except an individual has military grade decryption knowledge, he cannot hack a user password because it is encrypted. That’s why hackers go through your personal information by stealing your wallet, breaking in and sneaking in to your private space to borrow your computer to follow your trail on the internet, to see if you left cookies for them in your browser for them to get access to your personal data.

The solution is simple; you can hire a white hat cyber security agent today – someone who is otherwise known as an ethical hacker. This is someone who is a hacker but has decided to use his knowledge for good; they know all the loopholes and tricks and are willing to use this knowledge to protect you. For instance, a white hat agent can hack your website or database not to steal data from you or destroy your computer, but to show you the vulnerabilities in your system and provide you with a better firewall or database encryption system for a fee. This is the most ethical thing a hacker in Nigeria can do with his talent in cyber security development.

 

IT has taken over every sphere of endeavour in other climes, where they have self-driven cars, electric cars, sophisticated IT gadgets that use 5G, etc. How long do you think it will take Africa to get there?

Africa is filled with rich natural resources with ancient artefacts and great history. Africans have great potential to achieve greater things. Our history is filled with hardship and challenging times as a black ethnicity, even up till today, but we always overcome.

I am African and I know I can trace my roots back to Egypt and even further back to Ethiopia. Sometimes, we tend to abort our true origin as Africans. Remember, Egypt in North Africa is a desert filled with many historical monuments that are still classified as wonders of the world. The Great Pyramid of Giza can collect and concentrate electromagnetic energy in its chambers and at its base, scientists have discovered. The 139m (456ft) edifice was built by the ancient Egyptians more than 4,500 years ago and is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Also in Ethiopia, anthropologists have discovered ancient secrets and inventions by our ancestors like spears, bows and arrows for hunting and many other tools for human survival. This, to me, is an African technology, irrespective of time of invention, because we groom those tools today and perfect them. The discovery of tools in Ethiopia is a form of advancement from primitive species. However, times have changed. When we speak about self-driven cars, electric cars and sophisticated IT gadgets that use 5G, I believe we are on the journey, but it will take a long time, more hard work and responsibility of every African. I have faith that with the right plan and understanding from union of African countries and corporation of our African leaders and foreign tech aid from many other government authorities, we too can evolve to be a true global contributor to the tech race.

 

Sometime ago, we heard of Nigeria-made phones. They seem to be no more in existence. What is happening?

After about 15 years since Nigeria joined the Global System for Mobile Communications, we had the first Nigeria-made phone. The smart phone was built by a technologically-driven enterprise, AfriOne Limited, to serve as a standard handset for the typical Nigerian equipped with necessary applications like mobile health, mobile education and mobile banking.

According to the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of AfriOne, Sahir Berry, the factory was supposed to produce 300,000 phones per month. Few people knew about this technological breakthrough and, in my opinion, what really prevented the technology from getting to market and making sales include insufficient planning, inadequate publicity, competitive market and capital.

 

Do you think the Nigerian Government is on track in the area of IT? If not, what do you expect?

The government is trying very hard, but could use better insight from technological pioneers. With the coming launch of our 5G mobile networks, metro train station, Bank Verification Number system, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises lending platforms, stock exchange, youth empowerment programmes and maintenance of our telecom, radio and satellite television stations all over Nigeria, I think the government has done well.

All these things are good. But for us to be fully on track to become a true technologically-advanced country, it is not a bad idea for the government to provide a nationwide area wireless network and make the network providers roll out cheaper tariff plans for calls and data. It should also come up with a more trustworthy unified national identification system that can serve as a form of identification. Your police records, tax history, employment ID, driver’s licence, voter’s card, BVN, business registration ID, international ID data, etc should be connected to that single database like the United States citizens social security number system.

 

Do you have any project at hand?

I am working on a two front-end application projects called ‘Instakash’ and ‘Access Bills’. I usually dish out applications on a weekly basis.

 

Have you trained anybody in stack development, networking or graphic designing in all your years of practice?

I am a contractor and an employer of labour. I have trained some of my clients on the system I build by teaching them a bit of coding, so they could make posts and add content at their own pace. I also trained my three beautiful sisters to create graphics to promote their events management business.

 

What is your projection in the coming years and your overall goal in life as an IT expert?

I can see technology becoming more time-efficient in producing results with the invention of Artificial Intelligence. My overall goal is to be a machine-learning expert and to experience what life is like to be inside a computer-generated programme.

 

What do you have for youths who want to make a career in IT?

Do you ever have the feeling when you are not sure if you are awake or still dreaming? My piece of advice for them is to wake up and embrace transcendence.