Meet Anthonia Alexis, 15 years old, already a software developer, her sisters Frances Alexis, 17 years old, an artist who can draw and paint anything, Patricia Alexis, 13 years old, a fashion designer whose designs continue to wow me, and her brother Emmanuel Alexis, 12 years old, an aspiring footballer. These children inspire me a lot. Anthonia finished secondary school and decided to dedicate her life to software, this was the first time I saw a kid who knew exactly what she wanted for her life. As if that was not enough, her siblings visited and wowed me even more by their decisions to choose skills and use those skills to empower themselves and many others. I have come across many adults who tell you they do not know what to do in life, even when you offer to help with a business idea; they tell you they can never ever run a business. Who is now going to open companies and businesses that will employ the multitude of graduates from our universities? Anthonia is currently studying with us at Nugitech to become a seasoned software engineer; she is already delivering professional solutions to most of our clients here at Nugitech. Frances drawings continue to wow me and we are currently helping with making her designs available for sale online. From her designs, you will realise Patricia is on her way to becoming a great fashion designer.

If Nigeria refuses to start-implementing policies that will ensure that skills and competencies are valued above certificates, religion and ethnicity, the world will leave us behind

There is a growing global market for the highly skilled, with more circulation of the highly skilled across borders. Nigeria must tap into this and fight to retain her skilled human resources. If Nigeria refuses to start-implementing policies that will ensure that skills and competencies are valued above certificates, religion and ethnicity, the world will leave us behind. So many Anthonias out there are on their way out of Nigeria. They will take their skills out of Nigeria and empower other economies. Our worst loss hasn’t been because our natural resources were stolen, it is the human resources that continue to pour out of this country without returning back to create the necessary impact.

Can Nigeria Strengthen research base to encourage the most highly skilled domestic people to remain at home?

Times have changed and the world is experiencing a transformation into a skill-based driven economy. While some countries are fast at it, some others are still wallowing in sheer ignorance. My country Nigeria is one of such countries. In Nigeria today, the economy is controlled strictly by what the Government is doing, Government policies influence the economy so much that private organizations just take the passenger seat. Can Nigeria mimic the United States and other countries by adapting immigration policies to encourage more highly skilled immigrants? That will take a long time to happen. Can she Strengthen research base to encourage the most highly skilled domestic people to remain at home? This is what the Government has to do to keep her skilled citizens.

It is now time for everyone to teach skills and emphasize on abilities rather than certificates, where you come from, or what you believe in. We must encourage kids with special talents and abilities right from the home in order to get Nigeria out of this mess. We have so far seen how the music and movie industries are impacting our economy and earning foreign exchange. When every organization including public and private adopt to employ based on skills and knowledge, our country will move forward. Giving jobs based on religion, Ethnicity and above all CERTIFICATES acquired without skills and knowledge; will never allow an economy to grow.

How many Alexis can you inspire?

I am not discouraging education, my four friends are performing so well in their education and I encourage them to focus on that, but while at that, they are growing skills and will fit into any economy, especially economies that rally around skilled human resources to succeed. This is what every child out there needs, an encouragement to pursue skills, an encouragement to grow their talents and use such to earn a living. This process starts with every parent; every family can inspire the next generation to adopt skills. Government needs to change the rules and give jobs based on who is qualified and competent for positions. Nigeria deserves to be saved from this plague and it starts with you. How many Alexis can you inspire? We have the opportunity to meet with young people every day; we can pass our experiences and encourage every one of them to go for their dreams.

If youths rely on skills and talents, Nigeria will certainly grow at a faster pace. There is a chance we can add more jobs to the economy. There is a chance that Government and Business processes will run based on the competencies that can move us all forward. We have a good population to win more medals at sports events, to win more at entertainment awards, to win Noble prices and to create inspiring stories; we have so far let ourselves down by letting our talents go elsewhere. We can recover all if we all judge every Nigerian based on their presentation and skills, if you are good enough and possess the substance then the country needs to believe in you irrespective of religion, ethnicity and certificates.