In a bid to raise awareness about the Global Goals and to deepen the development at the grassroots, the Youth Wing of the Nasiru-Llahi-l-fathi Islamic Society, NASFAT, on Saturday September 26, organized a summit on Sustainable Development Goals.
The Summit, which had youths, professionals and people from all walks of life, was held on zoom.
According to the youth group, the aim of the webinar was to raise awareness and unleash the full potential of the youth to deliver the SDGs in the next decade. The programme featured lecture presentations, panelist discussion and a technical workshop session on volunteerism.
In his address, the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Mallam Isa Ibrahim Pantami commended the NASFAT youths for deeming it fit to organize such Summit.
Pantami said the percentage of youths across the globe is rising on daily basis and thus, they are the enablers of any digital revolution. He added that youth are the digital natives and they are instrumental to the transformation of country into a regional and global digital powerhouse once given the opportunity.
He said, “Innovation is part of our DNA as Nigerians and there are several stories of innovation across the globe that have the imprint of Nigerians. HopStop, an online city transit App acquired by Apple for a whopping $1billion, was owned by a Nigerian-born Entrepreneur.
“The purpose of innovation is to give rise to new ideas and technologies which eventually increase productivity, enabling organizations to generate greater output with the same input. According to the 2018 World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report, nearly 133 million new jobs may be created by 2022 by innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), automation and robotics. Institutions across the globe are paying more attention to digital innovation.
“This led renowned institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to introduce the concept of Innovation Driven Enterprises (IDEs). These IDEs have been known to have a significant impact on the economies of their host countries. To further illustrate this, imagine the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a nation of IDEs. Based on a 2015 Report, such an ‘MIT-nation’ would have been the world’s 10th largest economy, with gross revenue falling between the GDP of Russia ($2.097 trillion) and India ($1.877 trillion)!
“We encourage the youth to focus on digital innovation and entrepreneurship,” Pantami said.
Earlier in her address, Alhaja Nofisat Arogundade, the representative of the NASFAT Council of Elders, said the forum is happy that the youths of the organization are taking lead in the actualization of the SDGs.
She said the coming together to transform communities is the most important now and NASFAT youths are taking lead in actualizing the goals of the SDGs.
The summit which lasted for over three hours featured several sessions all aimed at equipping participants with necessary skills and knowledge that will turn them to propagators of the SDGs in their respective Societies.
Other discussants are Mr. Hammed Kayode Alabi, Executive Director, KL Leadership & Career Initiative; Mr Rasheed Adebiyi, Department of Mass Comm., Fountain University Osogbo; Mr Ismail Sogbade, Co-founder Strategic Innovations Hub and Mrs Sarah Anlade Dantsoho, Executive Director, Sarahtrishpany Limited.
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