Lagos Plans to Train One Million People to Code by 2030 with #CodeLagos

In the drive to ensuring youths are globally competitive, the Lagos State government is looking to train one million residents to code by 2030. Mr. Obafela Bank-Olemoh, Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, shared this vision at the ongoing Social Media Week event.

To ensure that the average Lagosian is able to compete globally, Mr. Obafela reiterated that:

Lagos population is 65 per cent young; so, you have to give them skills that will make them succeed. If the average Nigerian is exposed to certain skills, he/she will succeed anyhow.

Technology skills have been identified as being vital for youths to learn. They are important, not just for employment purposes, but because they encourage a whole new way of thinking. Coding knowledge is capable of helping people think better and identify a pattern to solving problems.

https://twitter.com/officialuwem/status/968500667282272256

Oracle and PwC Partner Lagos

However, training one million people seem like an ambitious goal, and the Lagos State Government knows this. To make it work though, the government is partnering with a few companies. Oracle and the consulting company, PriceWaterhouse Cooper (PwC) are two companies already on-board for the project.

Mr. Pedro Omotumhen, Country Partner PwC shared that:

When the Lagos State government shared the idea with us, we were quick to jump into bed with them, because this is not just about coding, but it is also about empowerment of the people.

On the part of the government, Code Lagos remains its main vehicle in driving digital literacy amongst residents of Lagos.

https://twitter.com/CodeLagos/status/968506088076259329

Code Lagos is an initiative started in 2016 as a computer programming initiative for students. With its existence, the Lagos State government was looking to introduce programming into the curriculum of public schools.

“We had to bring a lot of transparency into this so that whenever anyone heard about #CodeLagos it got the right attention. 1/2
– @felabankolemoh#SMWCodeLagos #SMWLagos pic.twitter.com/icXlzRZthn

— CodeLagos (@CodeLagos) February 27, 2018

The initiative already has about 44 coding centers across Lagos, and it has been working towards increasing that figure to 350 since 2017. And although interest in this initiative has waned somewhat since it was launched, Code Lagos is still very committed to the goal of training one million people on coding.