By

Sagiru Ado Abubakar

With zeal and keen interest to reignite commitment to education in Shara Community and to
accelerate progress of the Shara Community School, the Centre for Information Technology and
Development (CITAD) has on 31st July, 2023 organized a High-Level meeting on Promoting
Access to Education for Rural Citizens in Shara village of Sumaila local government. CITAD
perceived that there is an urgent need to recover learning losses and motivate political actors
and other stakeholders in education towards realizing access to basic education to the
unserved community of Shara. The purpose of the high-level meeting was to prioritize and
improve education access for rural citizens in the Shara community and also aimed to mobilize
action, ambition, solidarity, and solutions to transform education in similar places in the state
and help rural citizens get better access to education.
In 2017, CITAD found that Shara community with population of over 3000 people including
about 600 school age children had no school and their children were not attending school
because the only school near them (at Matigwai) has to be reached by crossing a river which is
not possible during the raining season. Following a series of community consultations, the
community with help from CITAD, set up a community school under a tree in 2017. Much later,
in April, 2022 the state government approved the construction of a block of classrooms for the
Shara community. On 8 th September, 2022 following the completion of the construction of the
classrooms and noting that, the state government did not post any teacher after the
construction project, CITAD voluntarily recruited a teacher in the person of Malam Aminu Yusuf
Adam Sitti to help manage the activities of the activities of Shara community school.
The high-level meeting took place at Shara Community School premises and Alh. Sa’id Saleh
Yakubu, village head of Sitti made the welcome remark. He welcomed the royal fathers,
representative of the Distinguished Senator, Abdurrahman Kawu Sumaila, representative of the

member House of Representative, Barr. Rabi’u Yusuf, members from CITAD and other
participants. He then told that they have since prepared, eager to host this meeting and wished
everybody fruitful deliberations. Alh. Anas Kabiru, village head of Matigwai represented the
district head of Sumaila at the evet. He said that, the emir of Rano, His Royal Highness, Alh.
Kabiru Muhd Inuwa assigned the district head of Sumaila to represent him at the high-level
meeting. Due to some reason, the district head ordered him to represent them both at the
meeting. He told that, the messages of the emir and that of the district head are similar. They
both urged the people of Shara who stayed longer living without having a single person with
primary school certificate to utilized this opportunity by sending their wards to school regularly.
He warned that the emirate will deal with anyone whoever withheld his ward from the school
as it is the policy of the state government.
Malam Sa’id Saleh, chairman Sitti Forum shared the journey so far. Since from the time CITAD
came across the Shara village during a project ‘improving Access to Education through
Community Mobilization’ been conducted by CITAD in 2016. Sagiru Ado Abubakar led the
delegation from CITAD to the event and he represented the CITAD Executive Director Malam
Yunusa Ya’u at the event. Sagir informed the participants that the executive director wished to
be with us in person but couldn’t because of the reason that he had a plight schedule by 2pm.
He reiterated the commitment of the centre toward achieving educational development of the
Shara community.
Alh. Yakubu Abdullahi was sent by the office of the Distinguished Senator Alh. Abdurrahman
Kawu Sumaila (OFR) to represent them at the event. He read a letter as follows from the office
of the distinguished senator. On behalf of the distinguished senator Abdurrahman Kawu
Sumaila, (OFR) I thanked Almighty Allah who helped us to represent the people of this region in
the senate chamber of the federation. Our office sincerely celebrates with Shara community for
this development. I assured you that the office of the Distinguished Senator is available and
open for you always. I will advise that you should prepare the demands of the community
school in written and forward to the office of the Distinguished Senator. I assured you that the
senator will do everything possible in response to your demands about not only Shara but the
entire communities under his jurisdiction. Our office will look forward to solve the problems of

inadequate teachers, additional blocks and teaching and learning materials within short period
of time in this school. He finally, thanked CITAD for this move and described the organization as
partners in progress. At the other hand, the representative of the Member House of
Representatives, Taka/Sumaila constituency, Alh. Usman Maikano Yusuf commended CITAD for
identifying Shara village and amplifying its challenges to the world. He then promised to brief
his boss on what he witnessed himself.
Honorable Nura Iro Ma’aji, a political figure, and a player of the Kwankwasiyya movement from
Sumaila local government, described the event as world education celebration day for Shara
people. He questioned why do we tell children leaders of tomorrow? He said for him children
are not leaders of tomorrow but leaders of today. He said that without education you cannot
lead your future. He urged the community to utilized the opportunity and be the best they can
be. He informed the gathering that in 2003 he was a student at CITAD, where he undergone
series of computer programs at the centre and since then he was proud of the organization. He
finally made two promises. He asked to know the number of the active students of the
community school and promised to provide teaching and learning materials of that figure
before the resumption day. Also, promised to assign Sitti community forum whom identify
Shara village in 2016 without a primary to be part of the beneficiary of a capacity building
program giving to Community Based Organizations in his hometown Sumaila local government.
Malam Adamu Bawa, Head of Department Normadic Education, represented the State
Universal Basic Education Board. In his response to the need of additional teachers he said that
SUBEB, Kano will look into it and send additional teachers to the community school. Malam
Musa Garba was the representative of Sumaila Local Education Authority (LEA). He testified
that they have similar places in the local government without adequate teachers, teaching and
learning materials. He appealed to the personalities that made promises and other
stakeholders to come for their aid. Malam Said Saleh Sitti, Chairman Sitti Forum, emphasized
the demands of the community school. He said that due to the growing number of students the
issue of additional staff is never be over emphasized. The school need shelter to accommodate
Early Childhood Care and Education section to accommodate younger ones. They want the
school to be enrolled in the school feeding program of the state as it boosts school attendance.

The also need instructional materials, teaching and learning materials, first aid box as well as
school expansion with playground for the pupils in the school. He finally used the opportunity
and extend another request of the community members to the offices of the Distinguished
Senator, Abdurrahman Kawu Sumaila, Senator Kano South and that of the Member House of
Representative Takai/Sumaila federal constituency. They forwarded a letter of request of
construction and reconstruction of roads in the community. The letter read that due to the
damage of the road from Burum-Burum to Sitti and from Rawun to the Dabar Baga. We have
written and request for construction and reconstruction for these roads for easy
transportation.

On Saturday, 25 th March, 2023 Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) in
collaboration with All Poets Network International has in celebration of this year’s World Poetry
Day organized a one-day Hausa Poetry Writing Workshop for 30 selected people with special
needs in Kano. The workshop took place at CITAD Annex, Women Development Centre, Court
Road, Kano with participants drawn from the association of people with vision impairment,
people with hearing impairment and speech difficulties and physically challenged people. Every
year UNESCO celebrates World Poetry Day. Adopted in 1999, the occasion honors poets and
pays tribute to expanding linguistic variety and sharing oral traditions through poetic forms.
Sagiru Ado Abubakar who coordinates the activities of people with special needs at CITAD. in
his welcome remarks, said that CITAD has been supporting associations of people living with
disabilities to project their voice in order to demand for accountability and inclusion as well as
help them to sustain that voice. In view of this, CITAD believed that there is need to engage and
support People with Disabilities (PWDs) to amplify their voice through poetic expression.
According to him, the aim of the workshop was to expose PWDs to the rudiments of writing
Hausa poetry in order to catalyze a voice for the demand of inclusion and accountability so that
they can send their messages to the appropriate quarters for consideration.
On his part, the Curator and Founder of All Poets Network International, Khalid Imam explained
that Poetry is believed to have originated thousands of years ago and has been kept alive
through oral and written forms. He said that the theme of this year’s World Poetry Day was
“Empowering People with Special Needs”. The objective was to increase the opportunities for
endangered languages to be heard, support linguistic diversity through poetic expression and

encourages PWDs to understand the importance of poetic devices. He added that with poetry
as a driving force of communication, the participants at the end of the day were expected to
utilize the knowledge they derived from the training towards pressing homes their demands
with poetry from the appropriate quarters until they are met.
Dr. Murtala Uba Muhammad gave a brief history of poetry. He said that unlike other literary
forms that we can date to precise texts and time periods, it’s a challenge to pinpoint the
earliest work of poetry. In one form or another, poetry has been around for thousands of years.
However, we might think of the epic poem as the first instance of poetry, appearing as early as
the 20th century B.C. Jumping hundreds of years ahead, we might turn, then, to the sonnet
form and its early appearance in the 13th century. Before moving into more modern poetic
forms, it’s important to consider Restoration poetry of the 17th century and the satirical verses
of John Dryden and Alexander Pope. He then explored three poetry learning techniques as
follows reading aloud, paraphrasing, and drawing the theme.
At the end of the day, to show that the workshop yielded positive results, some of the
participants composed songs on different topics. Nasir Garko, a participant from the association
of people with vision impairment (Nigerian Association of the Blind) sang the following song:

The poem we can make it.
Dedicated to persons with disability in Nigeria.
In the morning I begin with brush, after hustling to the home I rush, surprised I’m oh! gosh!, let
not bit around the bush, disability isn’t nightmare, if we are given much care, by uplifting our
welfare, treat disabled and nondisabled with fair.
Special need has capacious memory memorizing pages with no sorcery, easily messages bump
our sensory, to have no doubt google special need’s history.
Have you ever seen the deaf carpenter? the cripple who does welder? the blind who teaches in
blind or nonblind center? special needs are unique in spite of one’s gender, excelling in
academia and businesses we Render.
Now society embrace us as your colleagues, don’t harass or stigmatize us for our physique.
Nasir Garko the poet
Malam Ibrahim Umar Abdulkarim contributed as follows
A POEM ABOUT HABLE ONE
What a friend I have in you my Hable,
That will always make me able,
To write on a desk or on a table,
And fly so high to touch the gable,
Wishing that my name was Abel.

Smartly dressed in my singlet,
I can use you to control my smartphone and tablet,
Thus making me compose a couplet,
By ensuring that my knowledge in Braille ooze like a droplet,
Keenly listening to your tone dulcet.
You have obliterated the drudgery in me,
Of a monotonous grope for one letter after another amiss from me,
From the soft touch keypad,
In a smartphone and a tablet part,
But with your Perkins-style keypad,
I can now type heart and heart.
With you my little Hable,
I know I will one day write my fable,
Uttering no word nor babble,
Not even wanting to go to the Tower of Babel,
So that my work with Hable will remain unerrable.

2023 world poetry workshop is part of CITAD engagement under the ‘SUPPORTING AND AMPLIFYING
THE VOICE OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES TO DEMAND FOR ACCOUNTABILITY’ project to support
associations of people living with disabilities to project their voice and demand for accountability and
inclusion as well as help them to sustain that voice.

Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) with support from Association of
Progressive Communication (APC) organized a 1-Day sensitization for women on digital inclusion and
2-Day training for women on online safety which is part of practice of care under the community
network project. The training aims to provide mental and health safety at Dakwa, Leleyi Gwari,
Pasepa and Tungan Ashere communities of the FCT where CITAD operates. The project emerged
during the COVID-19 period as a measure to ensure that, partner’s lives and health are given
priority.
The sensitization and training took place on 31 st Mar, 1 st and 3 rd April 2023 in the four communities of
the FCT and had in attendance 30 participants in each of the community to make a total of 120
women (15-29yrs = 70, 30+ = 50 PLWD = 2). The facilitators include: Yesmin Salako, Usman Isah,
Mathias Ojoma and Ibrahim Suliaman Jama’are.
The objective of the sensitization and training are to: Understand ICT and how it is transforming
society, problems of gender digital divide, Why ICT are important for women and girls, how to
address the digital divide: the role of community, understanding of internet security and safety &
Gender Violence Online, Digital health and safety clinic, Understand feminist internet principles.
The training was inclusive, participatory and engaging as participants shared experiences on digital
inclusion and how important it is in today’s world. At Pasepa and Leleyi Gwari it was an outdoor
training facilitated under a tree shade while at Dakwa and Tungan Ashere it held in the ICT centre.
The training held for four hours each day with a break of 30 minutes.
The facilitators began the training with an opening remark to which the objective of the activity was
widely explained to the participants, and why CITAD had continued to create awareness and build
women’s expertise especially around digital inclusion. Topics around ICT and how it is transforming
society, problems of gender digital divide, Why ICT are important for women and girls, how to
address the digital divide: the role of community, understanding of internet security and safety &
Gender Violence Online, Digital health and safety clinic, understand feminist internet principles were
discussed during the cause of the training.
COMMENTS, QUESTIONS AND ANSWER
Ummusalma M Sabiu a participant at Tungan Ashere community had commended the efforts of
CITAD to bridge the digital gap, however she raised the concerns of the community members to take
advantage of the internet but the digital devices are too expensive to purchase.
Adama Abubakar also a participant at Leleyi Gwari community is also concerned that despite their
interest to harness the oppurtunities the digital space possess as has been learnt during the training,
they lack the digital skills to operate the devices and also the network is very poor in their
community and as such lack connectivity to the internet.
Safiya Idris a participant from Pasepa community has emphasized that the women trained would put
a lot of effort to ensure their children are digitally literate.
Maryam Isma’il a participant at Dakwa community had inquired about how ICT can help in gaining
good healthcare. Yesmin Salako who facilitated the training at the community expatiated that
through ICT hospitals are exposed to so many modern facilities which would increase and aid the

practices of the health practitioners, also as an individual one could easily assess information about
one’s health from the internet to avoid unnecessary self-medication.
RECOMMENDATION
After the training the women recognized the training as an eye opener and had decided to utilize the
opportunity to enroll themselves at the ICT centre in their community in order to be equipped with
the necessary ICT skills. At Tungan Ashere community Ummusalma Ibrahim and Habiba Muhammad
at Dakwa Community were appointed by the participants to coordinate the women (who had agreed
to contribute N50 each to fuel the generator) to fix a date every week to learn the digital skills. The
community champion Bashir at Tungan Ashere and Ismai’il at Dakwa communities would equip the
women with the necessary skills and also sought for technical assistance from CITAD when the need
arises.
At Dakwa community, the community had decided to transition the ICT centre to a Digital training
centre, where people come to learn digital skills, pay some fees and also receive a certificate after
undergoing some training for a fixed period of time.
EVALUATION
After the training about 75% of the participants were able to understand ICT and how it is
transforming society; Why ICT are important for women and girls; Understand feminist internet
principles. Only 25% were able to understand online gender violence as few of the women are on
the digital space.
At the end of the 3-day activity group photographs were taken.
ACTIVITY COMMUNITY FACILITATOR
Sensitization on digital inclusion and
training on online safety for women

Dakwa Yesmin Salako

Sensitization on digital inclusion and
training on online safety for women

Leleyi Gwari Mathias Ojoma

Sensitization on digital inclusion and
training on online safety for women

Pasepa Usman Isah

Sensitization on digital inclusion and
training on online safety for women

Tungan Ashere Ibrahim Sulaiman
Jama’are

By Khadija Aliyu

Three students Aliyu Musa from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Hauwa’u Abdullahi Kano state university of science and technology Wudil, and Auwal Ibrahim Adamu, Bayero university kano, have emerged winners of CITAD’S report a project competition.

The Centre said, the winners of the 7th edition of the competition, were honoured to encourage them to continue contributing their quota, for the sustainable growth and development of the country.

Report a Project is a program, supported by MacArthur Foundation, aimed at encouraging students in Nigerian Universities and tertiary institutions to contribute to their bid, to eradicate the scourge of corruption in Nigeria for sustainable development.

In his remarks, the deputy executive director of the center, Malam Ahmed Abdullahi Yakasai explained that, abandonment of projects paved way for backwardness of many societies.

He stressed that, the report a project competition mobilizes youths and encourage them to report,so that the center would use legal procedures to call the attention of stakeholders, on the need to complete the projects.

” CITAD is a non partisan organization that does not segregate”

Malam Ahmed Abdullahi, charged youths to continue strategizing, as the center would not relent in it’s efforts towards the fight against corruption, and ensuring good governance.

In their remarks,winners of the 7th edition of report a project competition, Aliyu Musa, Hauwa’u Abdullahi and Auwal Ibrahim Adamu highlighted that, the handsets and laptop given to them, would go a long way in assisting their research and other academic endeavors.

They advised students to rededicate themselves to their studies, and provide any meaningful information to relevant stakeholders, such as uncompleted abandoned projects to mitigate corruption.

Radio Nigeria reports that, the report a project competition is organized by CITAD with support from MacArthur foundation, which is targeted at encouraging students from tertiary institutions, to report abandoned uncompleted or poorly executed projects in their respective communities.

In its efforts on equipping the students to become digitally-enabled in Jama’are
local government the center for Information technology and development
conducted the first annual ICT quiz competition in the community, the quiz was
conducted on Thursday 15, December, 2022 at WABI Academy, the quiz was
started at 11:00am with opening prayer, The executive director center for
information technology and development represented by Mal. Ahmad Yakasai
made the opening remarks he embarked upon by being grateful to almighty Allah
for given the opportunity to witness the day and the huge impact CITAD produces
in transforming the lives of people and the society at large. He made mention that
CITAD has been organizing this ICT competition for over twenty years in kano.
But by considering the performance of CITAD office Jama’are and her focus on
improving the technology related activities CITAD decided to start up the trail of
this first ICT competition Quiz competition, to instill and broaden the interest of
younger generation to adopt the system and encourage students to priotize
leveraging technology at their early stages of life. He made it clear that whatever
fields a student chooses to study in his/her carrier, information technology is the
ingredient to all field of study.
He lastly listed the prizes to be won in the completion as follows
I C T QUIZ COMPETITION
a. First position : A New brand of Bicycle
b. Second position Y5 Hawie Android Handset
c. Third position A five Yards of Shadda
WEBSITE DESIGN
a. First position : A New brand of Bicycle
b. Second position Y5 Hawie Android Handset
c. Third position A five Yards of Shadda

Eleven secondary schools participated in the competition namely

1. Government Arabic College Jama’are
2. Government Day Secondary school Jamaare
3. Government Day Secondary School Hanafari
4. Hassan Muhammad Senior Secondary school Jama’are
5. Wabi Academy
6. Aliyu Maisango Junior Upper Secondary Basic School Jama’are
7. M C Abubakar Junior upper Basic Secondary School
8. Ahmad Muhammad Wabi Junior Upper Basic Secondary School
9. Future Solution Academy
10. Asasul Islam Junior Secondary School
11. Al-Furqan Academy
    The second speaker at occasion who is Dahiru abubakar the program officer of the
    center stated all the activities CITAD is doing to the community, ranging from
    conducting the Inspiring Leadership Reflection series in first quarter of the year
    with two prominent key figures in the community in the month of January and
    febuary this year, they are Alh isah Hassan Mohd Tafidan Jamaare and Prof.
    Ahmad sale, Dean Faculty of Agric Bauchi State University Gadau, training of
    fifty women across the L G A on Plastic Waste Recycle Management, training of
    fifty women on Recycle Energy, Training of twenty young girls and women in
    the local government under digital Creativity and innovation training founded by
    Lenovo foundation, training of fifteen women on Video Editing and graphic design
    under Digital Livelyhood program, donations of two set of computers to Nigerian
    Correctional service staff and free training of fifteen staff of the Nigerian
    correctional service staff, its Efforts towards Establishing the Community
    Network in Jama’are local Gov’t, admitting five students from the community into
    School of Nigerian community network , conducting the first annual ICT quiz
    competition and he mentioned that CITAD will round off their this year activity
    with a town hall Meeting with various political party candidates on December
    26,2022.
    The education secretary made a clear statement to the public that he is a
    beneficiary of CITAD training and urges the community to value CITAD
    initiatives and honoring their engagement to ensure the continuity of their work.
    One of the traditional title holder in Jama’are Alh sabo Likita, Sarkin Yakin
    Jama’are thanked the entire CITAD staff and especially the Director for his
    concerned towards improving the future of our younger generation, he thank
    CITAD for conducting free Computer base test JAMB training to the entire
    secondary school students of the emirate.
    The chairman of the quiz Mal Yahuza Bello from Jama’are concern citizen Forum
    declared the quiz open by mentioning the guidelines of the quiz. In the first round
    three schools scaled for the second round and in the second round GAC emerged

as the winner and two schools went for the third round then lastly Wabi academy
seized the second position while Alfurqan became Third.
The category of the competition was divided in to two segment ICT quiz and
Website Design.
Government Arabic college Jama’are Emerged as winner in the ICT quiz, Wabi
Academy Second and Alfurqan Academy hold the third position, in another
segment of the competition Website design Al-Furqan Academy Emerged as First
and Future Solution Academy second while Government day secondary School
Hanafari became third place.
LIST OF WINNERS AND THEIR PRIZES
Category of
completion

School Position Prizes

QUIZ Government Arabic College

Jama’are

1 st New brand of

Bicycle

Wabi Academy 2 nd Y 5 Hawei
Android handset
Alfurqan Academy 3 rd Five Yards of

Shadda

WEBSITE
DESIGN

Alfurqan academy 1 st New brand of

Bicycle

Future Solution 2 nd Y 5 Hawei
Android handset

Government Day Secodary
School Hanafari

3rd Five Yards of

Shadda

One of the students Abdulbasid Yahaya thanks and shown his appreciation to the
organizers and CITAD body by their tireless efforts and outstanding commitment.
He reaffirm that CITAD has been his major motivator to nurture his passion to
become technically oriented.
Closing remark was offered by the Principal of Wabi Academy Mal. Shuaibu
Nafada.

By
Sagiru Ado Abubakar

In Azare Bauchi state training centre, the women-focused incubators training entitled Digital
Creativity and Innovation for Young Women (DICI-YOW) that has been conducted by the Centre
for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) with support from Lenovo Foundation
has yesterday entered into third phase. The phase termed business ideation and aimed to
introduce the participants to the business environment, capital requirements, capital mobilizing
strategies, conceptualize the value chain of the business, understand the market and client
base building, digital marketing, labour and skills needed for the business and business
sustainability issues. The participants have since been trained in basic digital literacy that
consisted of Introduction to Windows, Microsoft word, Excel, PowerPoint and internet
application. Also, they undergone training on courses such as graphics design, mobile app
development, website design and some mobile and computer software (Mobile tools).
Due to the skills acquired, most of the trainees are eager to secure jobs or mobilize capitals and
start ICTs related businesses. To help the trainees achieve their dreams, yesterday at the Azare,
Bauchi state training centre, the trainees were trained on how to secure jobs or source
entrepreneurship and business support. The training let the participants to understand that
there are jobs available in Nigeria but most of the jobs come with certain set of requirements.
Soft skills such as the digital skills provided by Lenovo training are basic requirements that an
employer expects someone to have in order to be successful in a job position.
The training has yesterday demonstrated websites that the participants can visit such as
jobberman.com, ziprecruiter, teachaway, careerjet, indeed, linked in, glassdoor to secure jobs,
soft loans and grants from government initiatives like Bank of Industries (BOI), Bank of

Agriculture (BOA) and foundations so that they can be self-reliant and even employ others as an
entrepreneur cannot work alone.
Other opportunities shared to the participants included Women Startup Challenge, Tech
Startup Grant, 2023 ‘Open Minds – Young Voices’ Youth Activists Program, the 3rd Cohort for
iHatch free intensive incubation program and the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI).
In order to make things easier, the participants were urged to be on CITAD facebook pages i.e
friends of CITAD, peace Now, CITAD Alumni etc where such information has been shared
regularly by Job Placement Information Services (JOPIS) scheme of CITAD assisting youth
looking for employment and entrepreneurship opportunities by bringing information about job
opportunities to them. JOPIS Unit are getting job opportunities on newspapers from Libraries,
collaborating with reliable sites advertising job opportunities and creating library and reference
on the job opportunities so that people can benefit from.

Digital Livelihood and Digital Creativity Beneficiaries Trained on Entrepreneurship, Business Support Sources

By

Sagiru Ado Abubakar

Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) under Digital Livelihood and Digital creativity and Innovation Programs has trained young women and girls to acquire information communication technology (ICT) knowledge. The goal of these programs was to contribute to reducing the gender digital divide and unemployment through technology skill transfer that will enable young women and girls to acquire ICT-based entrepreneurship skill and set up small scale ICT-based businesses. To achieve aforementioned goal, on 11^th and 12^th December, 2022, the Job Placement Information Service (JOPIS) unit of the Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has organized sensitization workshops for the beneficiaries of digital livelihood and digital creativity innovation programs in both Kano and Bauchi (jJama’are and Itas) training centers on how to secure jobs and source entrepreneurship and business support.  

The workshops introduced the participants to sites that they can visit to secure soft loans and grants from government initiatives, Bank of Industries (BOI), Bank of Agriculture (BOA) and foundations so that they can be self-reliant and even employ others as an entrepreneur cannot work alone. 

At the start of the workshop, a call of volunteers from Save the Children was shared and helped the participants to apply. The job opportunity is looking for applicants with ICT-Based skills similar with that of digital livelihood and digital creativity beneficiaries to actively involved in the implementation of the PLANE project. The opportunity paid attention to female candidates, marginalized groups and those with disabilities

Other opportunities introduced to the participants included Women Startup Challenge, Tech Startup Grant, 2023 ‘Open Minds – Young Voices’ Youth Activists Program, the 3rd Cohort for iHatch free intensive incubation program and the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). 

Job Placement Information Services (JOPIS) is a scheme by CITAD to assist youth looking for employment and entrepreneurship opportunities by bringing information about job opportunities to them. Functions of JOPIS Unit are getting job opportunities on newspapers from Libraries, collaborating with reliable sites advertising job opportunities and creating library and reference on the job opportunities so as easily refer to it when the need arises.

Job Placement Officer will be responsibility for providing advice, council and information to prospective applicants. All job vacancies, employment and entrepreneurship opportunities are posting time to time on CITAD facebook groups “friends of CITAD”, “CITAD ALMUNI”, “Peace now” and pages

NEWS

GBV: Kano records 800 cases of rape, domestic violence in 11 months 

As Stakeholders task Kano Govt on speedy passage of VAPP, Child protection bills 

Dec 7, 2022 – 19:41

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Over 800 cases of rape, domestic violence, sexual abuse, online harassment from have been recorded in Kano State from January to November, 2022. 

The disclosure was made by the Gender Officer, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD),  Hajiya Zainab Aminu, who decried the ever rising cases of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Kano state. 

She spoke after a road walk to commemorate the 2022 16 Days Activism against GBV from National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Perrsons (NAPTIP), Kano office, to Kano state House of Assembly.

She called on the Kano State House of Assembly to, as a matter of necessity, pass into law the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPP) and the Kano state  child protection bills, to enhance the fight against sexual and gender based violence. 

Hajiya Zainab Aminu explained that the aim of the road walk was to create awareness on GBV and advocate for the speedy domestication of the  bills by relevant stakeholders.

She noted  that, if passed into law, the laws would go a long way in curbing the menace, where  perpetrators would be prosecuted in order to have a safer society.

Hajiya Aminu, therefore,  expressed concern over the delay by Kano State House of Assembly, in passing  the Child Protection bill, saying  that domestication and implementation of the act would help to curb gender-based violence in the state.

According to her, “Gender-based violence must be put to a stop because it is an evil act. It ranges from rape, battery and child molestation, among others.”

Also speaking, Head of Department, sexual and gender based violence, NAPTIP Kano zonal command, Hajiya Rasheda Aminu Ibrahim, highlighted that lack of VAP act in Kano limits the prosecution of SGBV offenders.

She said, NAPTIP zonal command which compromises of Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Kaduna and Bauchi states, was committed to eradicating sexual and gender based violence, child labour and molestation, human trafficking, among others.

In a related development, the CITAD Program Officer, Digital Rights, Alhaji Ali Sabo, has said that “due to the refusal of the president to assent to this bill, Nigerians have been witnessing an increase in the violation of their digital rights by the Nigerian government and its security agencies.”

He said that it is imperative to know that assenting to this bill would pave the way for more development in the country and drive the country’s digital space to a better level.

According to him, the bill when assented to, will strengthen the citizens’ right to the internet and its free use without undue monitoring

 He said that it would help in identification of true owners of personal data which are the owners themselves and the  bill will also encourage the stipulation of due process that should be followed before access is granted to government agencies and others to personal data of citizens

He also noted that there were rampant cases of Gender Based Violence (GBV) because president Muhammadu Buhari has not assented  to the Digital Rights and Freedom Bill in Nigeria which was passed by the National Assembly since 2018.

https://www.thecampuswatch.com/2022/12/08/naptip-citad-others-calls-for-domestication-of-child-rights-act-vapp/

https://stateflash.com/gbv-kano-records-800-cases-of-rape-domestic-violence-in-11-months

https://pyramidfm.com.ng/gbv-citad-naptip-nscdc-others-raise-awareness-campaign/

https://tribuneonlineng.com/stakeholders-task-kano-govt-on-speedy-passage-of-vapp-child-protection-bill/

https://saheliantimes.com/16-days-of-activism-citad-naptip-others-take-campaign-to-kano-streets/

https://justicewatchnews.com/kano-citad-naptip-others-call-for-domestication-of-vapp-child-rights-laws/

https://youtu.be/DzG8fDjkfWg

https://dailyfocus.ng/16-days-of-activism-citad-naptip-others-take-campaign-to-kano-streets/

https://primetimenews.ng/gbv-activism-citad-urges-kano-state-house-of-assembly-to-domestic-implement-child-protection-law/

https://www.radionigeriakaduna.gov.ng/blog/2022/12/06/sgbv-stakeholders-advocate-domestication-

By

Sagiru Ado Abubakar

In its effort to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities, the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has on Sunday 4^th December, 2022 joined the global communities to commemorate this year’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2022.  International Day of Persons with Disabilities is a global effort aim at promoting empowerment and helping to create real opportunities for people with disabilities. The celebration is a one-day event held at ground floor, CITAD with a theme “Kano State Disability Law: Prospects and Challenges” has a representation of almost all clusters of People Living with Disabilities in Kano State and dwelled deeply on the Kano State Disability Law signed by His Excellency Executive Governor of Kano State, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje. Malam Isyaku Garba, CITAD Programs Cordinator represented the Executive Director of CITAD at the event. He welcomed the participants and said that International Day of Persons with Disabilities gives opportunity to government, policy makers, human right activists, development workers and every stakeholder to deliberate on strategic ways to make effective demand for inclusion and accountability on matters that affect people living with abilities. He then hinted that CITAD has been making effort to establish a centre that promote inclusion, access, participation, disability rights and mainstreaming of issues of critical concern of people living with disabilities. 

Malam Sagiru Ado Abubakar coordinates the activities of people living with disabilities at CITAD. He took the participants back on the discussion during Kano Social Influencers Summit (KANSIS 2022) on the arrangement INEC made with regard to PWDs during the forthcoming general elections. He then informed that ‘Technology, Disability and Election’ breakout session in KANSIS 2022 was one of the best sessions in KANSIS 2022 in term of attendance and won momentum of dignitaries. 

Hajiya Bilkisu Ibrahim Mahmoud, a lecturer at College of Arts Science and Remedial Studies, (CAS) Kano chaired the event. In her opening remarks, she acknowledged the work of CITAD in helping the PWDs in Kano to understand the law, makes sure that the law has been provided with all necessary assistance and proper implementation. She apologized to CITAD for her inability to attend the KANSIS 2022 organized by CITAD saying that she was given short notice a day only to the event.

Malam Saifullahi Mukhtar Sadiq, Program Officer, Kanawa Educational Foundation for the Disables and Secretary Visually Impaired Educational Forum, Tudun Maliki, Kano made the first presentation. He presented paper on the Kano State Person with Disability Law signed by His Excellency Governor of Kano State, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje. He said that the bill was approved November 22 held at Government House, Kano. Saifullahi explained that the law would pave a way for the inclusion and development of PWDs in the state. The law has provided for the establishment of a board to oversee the affairs of PWDs and when established, the board would be given all the necessary assistance to make the law functional according to international standard.

Other content of the law maintained that no person with disability shall be discriminated against on the ground of his or her disability by any person or institution in any manner of circumstances. No person with disability shall be subjected to prejudice or negative segregation, including those based on gender, work, education, health, age, tradition and any other area of life. State, Local Government and private sectors must give special consideration to PWDs in social walfare, and other programs in line with the existing law. After highlighting major sections of the law he then informed that the draft of the law is available with them and waiting for the final version of the law from the state government. 

Barrister Nura Ahmad Muhammad, Executive Director MUFARKA Youth Development Association, made the last presentation. He looked into the prospects and challenges that the law might have face. He said that now that the Kano State Disability Law has been assented by the Governor of Kano State, the implementation of the Law is depending largely on the establishment of the Commission responsible for the implementation. However, we can make a look at the prospects and challenges with regards to the implementation of the law. He listed as follows: 

PROSPECTS:

• Protection for the rights and dignity of Person with Disabilities. The Law will ensure the protection of People with Disabilities in Kano.

• Legal framework. Disability Law is a legal document which will help in protecting the rights of People with Disabilities.

• Sustainability of Policy. Now that the Bill is passed into, there will be continuity in policies and programs related to People with Disabilities.

CHALLENGES:

• Proper implementation of the law. This can be achieved if the Commission created by the Law has been established.

• Funding of the Commission. For the Commission to function properly it has to be funded adequately. And all the fund allocated to the commission be released on time.

• Awareness Creation. Members of the public need to sensitized about the new Law. This will help in the successful implementation of the Law in Kano State.

At the end of the program, participants commented as follows

• Malam Hamza Isa Baffa, PRO, Kanawa Educational Foundation for Disabled drew the attention of the participants to make good plan for follow ups.  He said that now election is coming, they can engage political aspirants as early as possible to see the actualization of the law
• Malam Yahya A. Yahya, Chairman National Association of Physically Challenge People, Kano state chapter worried on how some clusters of PWDs in Kano are busy making contact to govern the commission when established. He said that until now there is no mechanism for implementation
• Amina Abubakar Haruna urged the clusters of PWDs to make effort on sensitization and awareness creation to the wider public
• Fatima Aminu, a physically Challenged participants requested CITAD to hold their hands and continue guiding them in order to ensure fully implementation of the law in the state
• Safina Sani emphasized that many institutions in the state are not aware of the law, she said that with social media training the undergone at CITAD they will take that advantage and ensure proper enlightenment on social media

By

ZAINAB USMAN SALIHU
AND
SAGIRU ADO ABUBAKAR

The Centre for Information Technology and Development has on 30 th November, 2022
conducted the 21 st ICT Quiz competition for Secondary Schools in Kano State. The ICT quiz that
has been conducted annually aimed to explore the major issues teachers and students
encounter in ICT and computing education at school, stimulate the students and teachers to
think more deeply about the IT career and serve as an advocacy tool for policy makers to
provide an enabling ICTs policies and basic infrastructures to secondary schools. For years
CITAD has been conducting the quiz in one of the tertiary institutions in the state. This is to
serve as an eye opener to the participating secondary school students and familiarize them to
higher institutions environment. This year’s ICT quiz took place at Main Auditorium, Yusuf
Maitama Sule University, City Campus, Kano. About 50 senior secondary schools have been
invited for this year’s quiz competition but 36 schools showed up. The schools were: New Girl’s
Science & Technical College, GGSS Aisami, Dawakin Tofa Science College, S.A.S Kano, GSTC Dala,
GTC Sani Abacha, GSS Kofar Nasarawa, GTC Kano, GGSS Sumaila, GDSS Kundum Sumaila, GGSS
Janbulo, Prof. Hafsat Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, Mukhtar Adnan DSCK, Governors College, GGSS
Kabo, GGSS Dorayi Karama, GGASS Bichi, GSS Dantube, First Ladies College, Kano, and GSCS
Commercial. Others included MTGSTC, GSS Dala, GSS Unguwar Gano, GGSS Jogana, GGSS
Maryam Abacha, Sani Bello Science College DKD, GTC Warawa, GGSS Bulukiya, KUST Staff

Secondary School Wudil, GSS Yada Kwari, GTC Ungogo, GSS Ganduje, GGSS Dorayi Babba, GGSS
Zakirai, GGSS Bichi and GSS Shekara, Kano
In his welcome remark, the Executive Director, Centre for Information Technology and
Development (CITAD) Malam YZ Ya’u who was represented by the Training Coordinator, Malam
Ahmad Abdullahi Yakasai said that CITAD uses the quiz as a tool for raising awareness on ICT
among teachers and students, encourage the study of computer education and testing ICT
knowledge among secondary school students. He added that this year’s ICT quiz is unique
looking at the number of participating schools and for the first time holding at Yusuf Maitama
Sulr University, Kano. He added that much have been done for the past 20 years inculcating the
value of ICT knowledge among secondary school students. He finally announced the prizes to
be won at the end of this year’s ICT quiz. The prizes were as follows:
1 st position: Laptop computer, printer, wall clock, 2 dozen of exercise books, 2 bags and 2 slots
for ICT scholarship for the participating students
2 nd Place Position: Laptop, wall clock, 2 dozen of exercise books, 2 bags and 2 slots for ICT
scholarship for the participating students
3 rd Place: refurbished desktop computer, wall clock, 2 dozen of exercise books, 2 bags and 2
slots for ICT scholarship for the participating students.
Best Teacher: Plasma TV
All Participating School: Certificate of Attendance for teachers and the students
Dignitaries present during the ICT quiz competition included Prof Amina Salihi Bayero, DVC
(Academic), Yusuf Maitama Sule University, Kano, Dr. Sani Danjuma, HOD Computer Science,
Yusuf Maitama Sule University, Kano, Prof Tijjani Salihi Bichi, Kano University of Science and
Technology, Wudil, Malam Sani Abdurrahman Naruwa, NITDA, Malam Aminu Idris, Kano State
Senior Secondary School (KSSSMB), Kano, Malam Auwal Mukhtar, Kano State Senior Secondary
School (KSSSMB), Kano and Malam Musa Isa, Science and technology School Board, Kano. In his
goodwill message the Vice Chancellor, Yusuf Maitama Sule University, Kano who served as the
chief host and ably represented by Prof Amina Salihi Bayero thanked the organizers for

selecting their institution to host the quiz competition out of the number of institutions in the
state. She said her both wanted to be attend the competition by himself but due to certain
reasons beyond his control could not be able to attend. Prof. Salihi assured the organizers and
the participating schools all necessary support during the competition. She informed that ICT is
one of the programs that received number of students seeking for admission every year. Yusuf
Maitama Sule has been offering BSc Information Communication Technology and BSc Computer
Science. Recently, National University Commission has granted permission for the university to
start offering BSc Software Engineering and BSc Server Security. She emphasized that soon the
university will establish faculty of computing offering many computer related courses. She
finally welcomed CITAD and participating schools on behalf of the university community.
Malam Musa Isa, deputy director Science and Technical School Board represented the
Executive Director Science Board at the quiz competition. In his message, said that CITAD
deserved to be applause for organizing the quiz for the past 20 years. He hoped that the
organizers will not relax for a second in making students excel in ICT career. He extended the
warm greeting of his boss to the organizers, the students and the teaching staff who he
described as backbone of the competition. Malam Aminu Idris represented Executive Secretary
Kano State Senior Secondary School Board, Kano. He urged the students to make sure that they
have a virtue of hardworking because it’s the formular of successes. He said that the Executive
Secretary wished them the participants success not only for this quiz competition but in the
entire endeavor in life.
Dr. Sani Danjuma, HOD Computer Science served as the Chief Judge at quiz. He said that as a
Chief Judge, he must guide and ensure the smooth running of the quiz. He then announced the
following rules and regulations for the quiz competition.
 There are three rounds for each session
 Each school will answer one question per round
 Each question carries 2 marks
 There is only one attempt, think before voicing out the answer
 Participants can discuss silently among themselves for the correct answer

 Only one participant should voice out the answer
 No bonus question will be answered
 Participants should voice out the answer loudly before 20 seconds
 In case of bracket additional question would be selected to clear the bracket
 No student should participate in two consecutive years
 Anybody found giving leakage to the participant both the school and the person would
be disqualified and will be reported to the ministry for further action
 The school are divided into two groups
 From each group three schools with highest scores will qualified for the final
 The six qualified schools would run the final session from which 1 st , 2 nd 3 rd position will
emerge

The first round of the competition featured 20 schools in the system of first come first to serve
basis. The schools were as follows: New Girl’s Science & Technical College, GGSS Aisami,
Dawakin Tofa Science College, S.A.S Kano, GSTC Dala, GTC Sani Abacha, GSS Kofar Nasarawa,
GTC Kano, GGSS Sumaila, GDSS Kundum Sumaila, GGSS Janbulo, Prof. Hafsat Abdullahi Umar
Ganduje, Mukhtar Adnan DSCK, Governors College, GGSS Kabo, GGSS Dorayi Karama, GGASS
Bichi, GSS Dantube, First Ladies College, Kano, and GSCS Commercial. Interestingly, no school
has scored zero in the first round of the competition. GGSS Aisami, GTC Sani Abacha, GGSS
Janbulo, Governors College, GGSS Kabo, GGSS Dorayi Karama, GGASS Bichi and GSS Dantube
answered one question and score 2 marks each. GGSS Sumaila, First Ladies College, Kano and
GSCS Commercial answered 2 questions and scored 4 marks each. New Girl’s Science and
Technical College, S.A.S Kano, GSTC Dala, GSS Kofar Nassarawa, GDSS Kundum Sumaila, and
Mukhtar Adnan DSCK answered all their 3 questions and scored 6 marks each. Because of the
tally, the Chief Judge announced that there should be additional round for the schools that
scored 6 marks to clear the bracket. New Girl’s Science & Technical College, GSTC Dala and
Mukhtar Adnan DSCK couldn’t and answer the question given to them at the additional round,
they scored zero each. Another round still had to be given to S.A.S Kano, GSS Kofar Nassarawa,
GTC Kano and GDSS Kundum Sumaila. S.A.S Kano, GSS Kofar Nassarawa and GDSS Kundum

Sumaila answered the question given to the and qualified to be at the final session of the
competition.
The second round featured 16 schools as follows: MTGSTC, GSS Dala, GSS Unguwar Gano, GGSS
Jogana, GGSS Maryam Abacha, Sani Bello Science College DKD, GTC Warawa, GGSS Bulukiya,
KUST Staff Secondary School Wudil, GSS Yada Kwari, GTC Ungogo, GSS Ganduje, GGSS Dorayi
Babba, GGSS Zakirai, GGSS Bichi and GSS Shekara, Kano. GGSS Bulukiya was the only school that
couldn’t answer any question in the entire competition and scored zero. GSS Unguwar Gano,
GGSS Jogana, GSS Yada Kwari, GTC Ungogo, GSS Ganduje, GGSS Dorayi Babba, GGSS Zakirai and
GSS Shekara, Kano answered one question and scored 2 marks each. MTGSTC, GSS Dala, Sani
Bello Science College, Dawakin Kudu and GTC Warawa answered 2 questions and scored 4
marks each. GGSS Maryam Abacha and KUST Staff Secondary School, Wudil answered 3
questions and scored 6 marks each. This means that GGSS Maryam Abacha and KUST Staff
Secondary School, Wudil that answered 3 questions and scored 6 marks each qualified to the
final session automatically. For the MTGSTC, GSS Dala, Sani Bello Science College, Dawakin
Kudu and GTC Warawa that answered 2 questions and scored 4 marks each must be given
another round in order to have one school that join the 2 schools with 6 marks each in the final
session. GSS Dala and GTC Warawa couldn’t make it, scored zero. MTGSTC and Sani Bello
Science College Dawakin Kudu battled again to clear the tally of 2 marks scored each in the
additional round. Sani Bello Science College answered the question given to them and joined
GGSS Maryam Abacha and KUST Staff Secondary School that emerged winners in this group to
the final session.
Subsequently, Malam Ali Sabo, CITAD Communication and Campaign Officer who served as
Master of the Ceremony (MC) asked the participants and the audience to go for lunch and rest
for 30 minutes and come back for the final session. The final session featured the following
schools: GSS Kofar Nassarawa, GDSS Kundum Sumaila, GGSS Maryam Abacha, KUST Staff
Secondary School and Sani Bello Science College. GSS Kofar Nasarawa couldn’t answer any
question and scored zero. GDSS Kundum Sumaila and KUST Staff Secondary School answered
one qyestions and scored 2 marks each. S.A.S answered 2 questions and scored 4 marks. While
GGSS Maryam Abacha and Sani Bello Science College, Dawakin Kudu answered all the 3

questions and scored 6 marks each. The result has shown that GSS Kofar Nassarawa that
couldn’t answer any question and scored zero and GDSS Kundum Sumaila and KUST Staff
Secondary School that answered one question and scored 2 marks each couldn’t make it. S.A.S
Kano that answered 2 questions and scored mark has automatically won the 3 rd position of the
21 st ICT competition. Still there was a bracket between GGSS Maryam Abacha and Sani Bello
Science College, Dawakin Kudu that answered all the 3 questions and scored 6 marks each.
They should compete in view of having the 1 st and 2 nd position. It was so excited to see the two
schools answering the additional round given to them. It took the two schools 4 added rounds
before GGSS Maryam Abacha scored zero in the last chance. This specified categorically that
Sani Bello Science College that answered the last chance won the 1 st position of 21 st ICT quiz
competition and GGSS Maryam Abacha came second.
The Vice Chancellor, Yusuf Maitama Sule University, Kano who was represented by Prof. Amina
Salihi Bayero, DVC Academic helped to present the prizes of the first-place position to Sani Bello
Science College that emerged victorious for the first-place position. Former DVC Admin, Prof.
Tijjani Saleh Bichi presented the prizes of second-place position to GGSS Maryam Abacha that
emerged victorious for second-place position. Malam Musa Isa who represented the Executive
Secretary, Science and Technical School Board presented the prizes of 3 rd -place position School
for Arabic Studies (SAS) that won the 3 rd position.
Giving his remarks Prof. Tijjani Sale Bichi, former DVC Admin, Kano University of Science and
Technology (KUST), Wudil congratulated the winners of the competition and appreciated the
effort of CITAD in doing great Job. He then finally expressed his worries about the poor
performance of two secondary schools from his home town.
A floor of comments and observations were opened finally to allow the students, the teachers
and the general audience to make contribution. Malam Isa Musa from Science Board advised
that the quiz should add subjective questions (fill in the blank) to expand the quiz. Abdulyasar
Yahaya Musa a student from GSS Kofar Nassarawa expressed his appreciation on the
performance of the participants and offered his advice to have a written form next time.

Mu’azzam Salisu from GTC Warawa also appreciated the members of the high table and the
organizers of the program and congratulate the winners.
Malam Haruna Adamu, CITAD made the vote of thanks

INTRODUCTION
On the 14 th of September, 2022 the Centre for Information Technology and Development held
the 4 th Women Internet Governance Forum as part of the 2022 Internet Governance Forum
activities. The event which is being held annually is part of the Nigerian Internet Governance
Forum (NIGF) pre-event activities., This year, the event theme was Making the Internet for
Livelihood, Love and Life: Tackling Gender and Child Abuse Online and was held online with a
limited physical attendance/participation in Kano. The theme was a well thought one, looking
at the global happenings around gender and child abuse online which has become a norm by
the perpetrators. Madam Marry Uduma, Coordinator, West African Internet Governance Forum
served as the Chairperson with Mrs. Ibukun Odusote, Chairperson, Ndukwe Kalu Foundation as
the Keynote Speaker while Jan Moolman, Co-Manager: Women’s Rights Programme,
Association for Progressive Communications served as the Guest Speaker.
Also, two technical sessions were held on Gender Violence Online and Child Protection Online.
At the two sessions, distinguished personalities and experts on Gender Based Violence and
Child Protection spoke and shared their experience and knowledge with the participants. The
first session which was titled Dealing with Gender Violence Online was chaired by Professor
Amina Kaidal of the University of Maiduguri while the speakers at this session were Zainab
Aminu, CITAD Technical Officer, Mrs. Martha Alade, Founder, Women in Technology and Msen
Nabo, Digital Media Associate at Connected Development.
The second session which focused on Dealing with Child Protection Online, had Hajiya Suwaiba
Muhammad Dankabo, Programmes Manager at ActionAid International as chair while Aminu
Adamu Naganye of the Star Newspaper, Harira Wakili, a Gender and Human Rights Activist and
Barrister Aisha Mahdi of Green Edge Attorneys served as the speakers.
OPENING SESSION
In his opening remarks, the Executive Director of CITAD, Y.Z Ya’u started by explaining the
purpose of this year’s WIGF during which he stated that, the essence of organizing the forum
was to encourage discussion, especially among women, on Internet governance and harvest
strategies for addressing issues that tend to reinforce the marginalization of women in the
digital space. Mr. Ya’u further stated that the WIGF focuses on two specific issues:

2

1. Issues of Gender Based Violence: in this regards, Mr. Y.Z said a lot of young women have
   suffered and still suffering from different kind of gender violence from people whose aim was
   to deter them from using the Internet. He also lamented that in some cases these young
   women face gender violence by their social media friends. Moreover, the Executive Director
   also said many women especially political aspirants are being abused and castigated on social
   media based on their gender, which contributes in furthering the political marginalization of
   women.
2. Child Abuse Online: on this, the Executive Director stated that the Federal Government of
   Nigeria has set up panel to advise on a policy framework on how to address this issue. Speaking
   further on this, Ya’u hoped the forum would give the participants a chance to harvest strategic
   ideas that can help in shaping the policy, raise awareness and involve other stakeholders in
   trying to sanitize the digital ecosystem so that the women in particular can be able to make
   effective use of the Internet in the country, have access to educational materials and ability to
   use the Internet without being harassed or intimidated.
   Speaking about the importance of the Internet, Mr. Ya’u stated that Internet allows individuals
   and academics to make research when there is accessible and safe Internet. Fearing that some
   factors may hinder the proper use of the Internet, Ya’u advocated that factors which inhibit
   people from using the Internet needed to be removed and issue of affordability should also be
   addressed. He observed that women find it more difficult to access the Internet than men due
   to the economic disparity that exists between two.
   Moreover, Ya’u said the aims of the forum were to: improve user security competence among
   women, ensure women are able to use the Internet safely & secure their communications and
   that their privacy is well respected. At the end, he emphasized that “we must take Internet as a
   right for everybody in the country”
   Giving her remarks at the Forum, the West African Chair of the Internet Governance Forum,
   Mrs. Marry Uduma said in discussing about children and women on the net, we need to first
   understand that these category of people are already being marginalized and a huge gap exists
   in the society. She also stated that women and children are every day being abused and
   violence being meted on them online but little is being done to curtail the situation. Further,
   the West African Chair said, these categories needed to be encouraged and supported to use
   the Internet without being harassed and their rights not being violated in order to benefit from
   the ample opportunities the Internet presents. At the end she encouraged the participants to
   actively participate at the forum.
   The Keynote Speaker at the Forum, Mrs. Ibukun Odusote, Chairperson, Ndukwe Kalu
   Foundation mentioned that in the early days of the Internet, it has been a concern to the whole

3

nation. Discussing on the responses to Gender Abuse Online and the multiple questions to
address bordering around gender violence online, the keynote speaker said, there is need to
develop campaigns messages to counter the misusers of the Internet and contributed to the
current processes of developing national strategy on child protection online. The speaker also
stated that the essence is to find ways on how to address physical and online abuse, and how to
protect vulnerable people from being harmed on the Internet. For this, she said more budget
need to be allocated to this area.
Mrs. Odusote went further to state that under United Nations Charter for Child Protection,
every child is expected to have a fundamental right to education, a right to health and a right to
livelihood, children are supposed to be allowed to speak and to be heard, but a lot of
constraints are preventing them from being able to fully access their fundamental rights
especially in Africa due to the cultural issues. Speaking about the ample advantages of the
Internet, Mrs. Odusote said if there was no Internet during the COVID-19 pandemic, many
people could have lost their lives. The Internet had also served as school for many children
during the lockdown, however, it also came with many disadvantages where some people used
it to abuse children.
Buttressing child abuse further, the keynote speaker said child and women abuse is a daily
reality in Nigeria; six out of ten children experience one form of abuse or the other, one in four
girls, and ten percent of boys have also been abused according to UNICEF data. She said
Technology when use in the right way has a potential to broaden opportunities and reduce the
level of abuse if there are proper guidance. The keynote speaker also lamented that many
opportunities are still not fully explored, but people tend to use the negative side of the
Internet, bullying others and amplifying hate speech on social media platforms.
On the negative consequences of child abuse on education, Mrs. Odusote said report has
shown that one in five children skipped school due to abuse, and of recent, kidnapping of
school children has also brought a lot of problem to children education in the country.
Discussing about the strategies to follow in preventing gender abuse and safety promotion
among children, the speaker said, for that, educational institutions must to be protected as well
as ensuring privacy of children online. For this, government must ensure all the necessary
regulations are in place and civil society organizations need to intensify advocacies to relevant
government agencies on the issues. Also teaching digital literacy and online safety skills will go
a long way in addressing the menace.
Moreover, there was need to articulate and introduce policies on how to prevent the abuses,
promote parental care education, enlightenment on online activities for the children and
women need to be properly educated. There is need for guidelines on installation of

4

appropriate technology and software to prevent children falling into the traps of their abusers.
And creating trauma management techniques and advocacy for protecting young people online
will go a long way in finding the solution to the problem.
In her contribution, the Guest Speaker, Ms. Jan Moolman started her contribution by saying
that the journey for the improvement of women’s rights especially on the Internet is a difficult
one, looking at how the Internet impact the lives of women from the ICT to digital technology,
from the focus of ICT for Development from the 1990s to 2000s and even in the contemporary
discussion regarding privacy, disinformation, misinformation, censorship and hate speech, the
role of women in influencing, shaping and benefiting from digital technology is getting much
more grounded, and this recognition is largely due to the consistent work of organizations and
people in the global south that consistently call for inclusion, diversity and bringing gender
approaches to all the work that concerned human rights, both online and offline. Information
around gender based violence has been at the core of this work and has duly serve in bringing
different actors into the same room to find solution, the speaker added. She went further to
say that it took many years of lobbying and advocacy and work within women movement,
including building knowledge, research, campaigning, sharing experience and finally getting a
common language to get recognition on violation women experience when they are online. And
this work and persistency led to the 2018 adaptation of the UN Human Rights Council first ever
UN resolution on preventing and responding to violence against women and girls in digital
context and other different resolutions including the recent one in Africa has brought more
relief to women and girls in the continent.
Speaking on the issues APC and its partners pay more attention to when it comes to women
rights and digital technology, Ms. Moolman mentioned the followings:

1. Joy, hope and Justice: according to the Guest speaker, for people who experienced
   violence online, there is hope they can find joy with regards to connection, information,
   solidarity, friendship, fun and even in some cases love. And for this, APC and its partners
   think it is important to encourage people to continue the work they are doing and to
   keep women safe and in a productive way on the digital space.
2. Access: Even though women face many forms of violence online but there is need to
   ensure they have access to online platforms as easily and affordable as possible in order
   to carry out their normal activities. Emphasizing on how women are being marginalized
   when it comes to accessing the Internet, the speaker said, the 2019 ITBU report stated
   that globally only 48% of women are online and in the global south this is even lower at
   28%. This according her shows that there is wide gap between the connected and
   unconnected in the society. And unless we are able to address the issue of accessibility,
   many women and marginalized communities will remain in darkness and their voices
   silent.

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3. Third is about companies that own social media platforms that are regulating contents
   that lacks clarity and consistency and which upon violate the rights of people without
   accountability or remedy. These companies are determining online discourses with
   focus on profits at the expense of users’ privacy and rights.
4. The fourth is about how feminists’ movements online and offline are expanding and
   taking new forms. These groups are upon targeting for gender based violence online
   and it sometimes manifest to offline spaces.
   FIRST TECHNICAL SESSION: DEALING WITH GENDER VIOLENCE ONLINE
   CHAIR: Professor Amina Kaidal
   PANELISTS: Martha Alade, Zainab Aminu, Msen Nabo
   The first technical session was on Dealing with Gender Violence Online. The session which was
   chaired by Professor Amina Kaidal of the University of Maiduguri had Mrs. Martha Alade,
   Founder of Women InTechnology, Zainab Aminu, Gender Technical Officer, Centre for
   Information Technology and Development and Msen Nabo, Digital Media Associate at
   Connected Development.
   In her presentation, Zainab Aminu started by defining the Gender-Based violence which
   according to her refers to harmful acts directed at an individual based on their gender and
   rooted in gender inequality, the abuse of power and harmful norms.  Mss. Aminu said Gender-
   based violence (GBV) is a serious violation of human rights and a life-threatening health and
   protection issue, which is estimated that one in three women experiences sexual or physical
   violence in their lifetime.
   Zainab further stated that gender violence is not a new phenomenon; it has been existing since
   time immemorial which can include sexual, physical, mental and economic harm inflicted in
   public or in private and threats of violence, coercion and manipulation. Mss. Aminu also said
   gender violence can take many forms such as intimate partner violence, sexual violence, child
   marriage, female genital mutilation and so-called ‘honour crimes’ while its consequences are
   devastating and can have life-long repercussions for survivors. 
   Speaking about the impact of cyber violence, the speaker said it differs according to the victim’s
   gender. She gave an example with a study conducted by the Pew Research Centre which
   revealed that 38% of harassed women found their most recent experience with online
   harassment extremely or very upsetting, compared to only 17% of harassed men. The research
   further said that compared to male users, who tend to be more concerned about damage to
   their reputation, females are more likely to fear physical harm. This corresponds to the nature
   of online abuse these groups experience. Where men and boys are more likely to be victims of
   defamation and libel, women are more likely to be subjected to derogatory remarks or sexual

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images and threats, such as non-consensual pornography. She gave another example with
another study which found that female college students (age 18-24) who were victims of offline
stalking were three times more likely to be stalked online than their male counterparts. The
study also found that “while particular variables influence victimization risk among females,
virtually none of the variables in the analyses produced statistically significant relationships
with victimisation among males”.
Moreover, Zainab said key distinction between offline and online gender-based cyber violence
is that it is significantly more difficult “to permanently remove abusive or triggering content
from the Internet, which obliges the survivor to re-experience their victimisation all over again.”
This can exacerbate the psychological impacts of these forms of violence, such as flashbacks of
the incident and/or perpetrator, as well as increase the victim’s isolation period.
Discussing on the long term negative impact of gender violence online, Zainab said the greatest
impact that women experience is self-censorship. Women start censoring themselves online.
And that is what the abusers want. Another impact she said is that online violence attempts to
keep women from major sectors of the public sphere because public only take physical violence
seriously. The third impact is that some women leave the online platform [after being
harassed]. The forth impact which is being associated with online violence is public health issue
and the effects which results in physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm, and erodes
self-esteem.
Offering some solutions on how one can protect selves online, Zainab Aminu mentioned the
followings:
• Creating a strong password 
• Having different passwords for different accounts
• Downloading apps from authentication platforms and using two factor verification
• Logging out of accounts when not in use
• Not using public WIFI for sharing sensitive information 
At the end the speaker said, to stop gender violence online, there is need for public awareness
in order for people to understand it consequences which in many cases metamorphosed to
offline.
The second speaker, Mrs Martha Alade started by quoting the 1993 UN Declaration on the
Elimination of Violence against Women which defines ‘violence against women’ as an act of
gender-related violence (GBV) that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual,
psychological or economic harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion
or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life [or online].

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Discussing on the different types of Gender Violence Online, Mrs Alade said it includes; Doxing
(leaking unauthorized info to public), Sexist abuse, Hate speech, Threat to free expression,
Threat to privacy, Impersonation, Defamation, Gender-based discriminatory memes,
Cyberstalking, Online misogyny etc. On the category of people that experience Gender
Violence, Mrs Martha said women and girls from marginalised communities are the easy
targets and their voices are often unheard. Mrs Alade also said, in most of the times, girls in
local communities are being violated but they are not even aware they are being violated. She
gave a scenario on a case they worked on which happened to a small girl in a community they
are working in and the girl was abused but due to lack of proper awareness about the issue she
was not even aware she was abused until she was examined then it was discovered the girl was
violated.
At the end, the speaker said, to stop gender violence the followings need to be considered

1. Education in local languages
2. Increase Sensitization/Advocacy – culturally responsive and relevant
3. Consent and privacy
4. Human Rights Enforcements by Public and Private
5. Employ AI for Filtering offensive contents
6. Content Enhancement
7. Enable more support and help channels for victims
8. Drive programs that amplify voices of the marginalized women and girls
9. Support NGOs working around the subject

The third at this technical session, Miss Msen Nabo, Digital Media Associate at Connected
Development said appealing to governments to take the issue of GBV more serious is
something its advocates need to take beyond social media and also people’s attitudes need to
be changed. Mss. Nabo also stated that Gender Violence especially online is something that
people come across everyday but most of the times the victims ended up being punished by the
society. The gender activist said when victims of gender violence try to speak out against the
violence mated on them they usually receive silent feedback or they are advised to keep mute
in order to protect their image.
Mss. Msen went further to say that a clear example where government is an accomplice to this
act is the case of Kano State where the State House of Assembly refused to domesticate the
Child Protection Act even though the state is ranked among the states with high rate of gender

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based violence and child abuse. According her, this need intense advocacies and awareness
creation.
Speaking further on how people violate others on social media platforms, Mss. Nabo stated
that sharing someone’s pictures, address, videos without his/her consent are all forms of
violence online and these types of violence can turn to offline. And for this, she suggested that
advocacies and awareness creation need to be carried out in order to stop it.

SECOND TECHNICAL SESSION: DEALING WITH CHILD ABUSE ONLINE
CHAIR: Hajiya Suwaiba Muhammad Dankabo
PANELISTS: Barrister Aisha Mahdi, Harira Wakili, Aminu Adamu Naganye
The second session was moderated by Hajiya Suwaiba Y. Dankabo of ActionAid Nigeria and the
Three (3) distinguished personalities and experts on Gender Based Violence and Child
Protection spoke and shared their experience and knowledge with the participants.
A Gender and Internet Right Advocate, Harira Abdulrahman Wakili started her presentation
with explaining the ample opportunities the Internet presents to the young generations, Mss.
Wakili said nowadays Internet offers limitless opportunities to young people through
computers, smartphones, gaming consoles, and televisions, children learn, imagine and develop
their social networks. But she cautioned that these platforms need to be used in the most
appropriate way, where she stated that when these are used in the right way – and accessible
to all – the Internet has the potential to broaden horizons and ignite creativity. She also said
that with these opportunities come serious risks. Harira added that cyberbullying and other
forms of peer-to-peer violence can affect young people each time they log on to social media or
instant messaging platforms. Speaking about what children can be exposed to on the net, Miss
Wakili mentioned that when browsing the Internet, children may be exposed to hate speech
and violent content – including messages that incite self-harm and even suicide. According to
her, what happens online reflects the realities children face every day – at home, at school and
in their wider communities. In conclusion, Ms. Wakili emphasized that every child must be
protected from violence, exploitation and abuse on the Internet.
The Second speaker at this session was Barrister Aisha H. Mahdi of Green Edge Attorneys, who
emphasized that with the widespread use of the Internet, the advancement in technology and
the proliferation of Internet-enabled devices have created borderless and unlimited access to
information. Barr. Aisha said progress brings by the Internet has given the bad eggs in the
society the opportunities to exploit, put the children at risk, and make them vulnerable to
abuse. She said that there is an urgent need to balance the immense benefits of technology,
commercial interest and ensuring online safety of children with appropriate safeguards and
strong legal and institutional framework. Speaking on the safety on children online, the speaker

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said there is a growing concern about the safety and privacy of children online which is amongst
the problems identified by relevant stakeholders in Nigeria.
Discussing about the Internet penetration in the country, Barrister Mahdi said as Internet
penetration increases, more children are connected to the grid, and this gives the children
better understanding of technology than the average adult. The speaker also mentioned that
new phones, smart toys, computers, and privileges for using a device give birth to new
responsibilities. Speaking about the exposure of the children to social media, Aisha stated that
the increased use of social media and online services allows children to share and consume
tremendous volume of personal information online. And at the same time the children use the
Internet as a means to learn, share and participate in civic life.
The legal practitioner added that in Nigeria, Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution and Section 8
of the Child Rights Act provide for children’s right to privacy. And Section 23 of the Cybercrimes
Act 2015 punishes child pornography. The Cybercrimes (Prohibition and Prevention) Act also
criminalizes cyberbullying and cyber stalking that could affect children. According to her,
though the Act punishes consumption of such contents and provides for other offenses, there is
no other specific legal guidelines or direction to protect the online safety and privacy of the
Nigerian child. Giving recommendations on how to safeguard children online, Barrister Aisha
Mahdi said:
i. Nigeria needs an online privacy protection law for children which will seek to protect
the personal information of children on websites, online services and applications
and it should be binding on online service providers collecting the personal data of
children to ensure consent management.
ii. Service providers should require the consent of the parents or guardians if the data
collection affects a child below the established age.
iii. There is need to digitalize the Nigerian courts and repeal some laws to ensure
efficient and quick judgments related to children abuses

Sharing his experience at the forum, a Kano based journalist, Aminu Adamu Naganye of The
Star Newspaper said Internet Service Providers and Electronic Service Providers need to ensure
their platforms are secure and do not put children at risk. He added that Service providers
should implement privacy and security by design and default. Service Providers have to do
more in creating and ensuring age-appropriate contents by managing content and dealing
effectively with abuse, misuse of their platforms and illegal contact with children.
Aminu Naganye said the legal framework alone cannot guarantee complete protection for the
Nigerian child. Excessive regulation will stifle children’s participation and access to the immense
benefits of the Internet. Speaking further, Mr. Naganye said there is need for increased digital
literacy for both children and their parents/guardians. According to him, providing this will
ensure children implement best privacy preferences, understand the implication of oversharing,
and have good online behavior. Another recommendations the journalist gave was that
parents/guardians should ensure they always install safety tools on their wards’ devices which
will protects children from inappropriate behavior and laying their hands on inappropriate

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online contents. It will also prevents disclosure of personal information and assist parents and
guardians manage time spent on the devices.

CLOSING
Following the presentations, participants asked questions and made comments as well offered
specific recommendations that would help in making the Internet safer for both women and
children. This segment also allowed the presenters to clarify on some of the issues they raised
and positions advanced as well as father interrogated some of the proposed solutions to the
challenges that women and children face online. Participants agreed that there was need to
carry both the discussion and the proposed solutions offline to reach more people and
especially engage government and other stakeholders to respond to these challenges so that
both women and children would use the Internet safely and productive to ensure that it serves
their needs.
The organizers also promised to distill the recommendations and issue a communique as the
outcome of the Forum while exploring all possibilities to continue to engage both the
participants at this Forum as well as other stakeholders to mount a sustained public awareness
on the issues and an advocacy for action to address the problems,

The Centre for Information Technology and Development had on 22 nd September, 2022 under
its project on Mobilizing and Catalyzing Citizens Action for Accountable Election and
Governance in Nigeria supported by MacArthur Foundation held its Eighth Dialogue on Anti-
Corruption Fight in Nigeria with two of its sub-grantees; Abubakar Sadiq Mu’azu, Executive
Director, Center CATAI and Chioma Agwuegbo, Executive Director, TecHerNG while Dr. Kawu
Adamu Sule, PhD, Lecturer, Department of Sociology, Bayero University, Kano served as the
moderator. As it has become tradition in the Centre that every month it’s conducting the
dialogue, in the month of August, the Centre hosted Mu’azu Alhaji Modu, Executive Director,
Spotlight for Transparency and Accountability Initiative and Adeola Fayehum, Producer at
Keeping it with Adeola with Malam Haruna Adamu, Community Network Coordinator at CITAD
as the moderator.
The dialogue started with an opening remarks by the Executive Director of CITAD, Yunusa Zakari
Ya’u. Mr. Ya’u begin his remarks with aim of organizing the monthly dialogue where he stated
that; the aim of the dialogue is to give the sub-grantees under this project an opportunity to
regularly share their work with a wider audience in promoting accountability and fighting
corruption in Nigeria. He also mentioned that the dialogue is aimed at giving both the sub-
grantees and young people who have interest in the area an opportunity to discuss and share
ideas. He went further to state that CITAD has for many years been working in the area of
accountability and fighting corruption in Nigeria and empowering young people to demand for
good governance. Buttressing further on the essence of organizing the monthly dialogue, the
Executive Director said is to create a platform for the sub-grantees and those who have an
interest in the area to discuss ideas and learn from each other as corruption and lack of
accountability are the major obstacles towards the country’s growth and development”.
Opening the dialogue, the chairman of the September dialogue, Dr. Sule Rano said that Nigeria
needs transparent and accountable government and platforms like this one will helps in
ensuring government officials are put on their toes. He further stated that “accountable
election is key to good governance and democracy” and in a good democracy citizens must be
allowed to choose/elect their leaders. “This situation can only be achieved through accountable
and transparent election”. Dr. Sule buttressed.
The first speaker was Abubakar Mu’azu, Executive Director Centre for Advocacy and
Accountability Initiative. Mr. Mu’azu started his presentation by emphasizing the need for
accountable election and ensuring strict adherence to democratic process in electing leaders in
all positions and for citizens to understand their responsibilities in electing competent and
credible leaders. For the upcoming 2023 elections, Mr. Mu’azu shared with the participants the
efforts his organization is making in the area of empowering citizens with access to information
and amplifying their voices. The Executive Director stated that at Centre CATAI, they have been

creating awareness on the need for the citizens to participate in the elections, renew their
Permanent Voters’ Cards, the need to engage in the electoral processes; from primary to
secondary elections. He went further to state that even though Borno State has fewer people in
terms of PVC collection, but still citizens are campaigning and raising their voices in holding
government accountable due to intensify campaigns around the area by Civil Society Actors in
the state.
Speaking about the need for young people to actively engage and participate in the governance
and affairs of their country, the executive director said “young people need to advocate for the
inclusion of youth in leadership position and ensure their voice is heard for majority of the
voters in the country are youth”
Discussing on the activities they embark on, he said, Center CATAI has started shooting short
videos with young people and the essence of that is to change the perspective of the citizens
and how people can engage the government officials. According to him, the major target of the
campaign is young people because they constitute the highest number among all the other
constituency. On the tools they are using to reach their target audience, Mr. Mu’azu said they
mostly use Social Media because it is faster and easier to reach young people and encourage to
do what is good. Abubakar also explained that the focus of the campaign of recent is to
empower young people to have access to the right information, collect their PVCs and ensure
they elect the right leaders that will ensure accountability and transparency in governance,
enhancing and making quality education and serve the need of the citizens through different
initiative, advocacy, and engagement after the election.
Stressing the need of collaborative efforts, Mr. Mu’azu said to ensure the sustainability of such
kind of initiative and its success, citizens must accept it and take ownership of the process and
ensure sustained advocacy around having accountable government that will provide evidence
of democracy.
Also speaking at the dialogue, the Deputy Country Director of MacArthur Foundation, Oladayo
Olaide hailed CITAD for organizing and coordinating the discussion which he described as timely
and encouraging. Mr. Olaide went further to say that there is need to find ways on how to
include accountability into the discourse around 2023 general election and other important
issues that are significant to the election and try to rally out and speak out those issues. He also
advised and encouraged people working in this area to ensure as much as possible remain
neutral in the implementation of their activities
At the end of the dialogue participants asked questions and answers were provided by the
panelist.

By
Sagiru Ado Abubakar

In many states, the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) noted that
people living with disabilities have no access to educational institutions, no appropriate policies
to address their needs and concerns at schools and in place of work. People living with
disabilities face discrimination in matters of admission to high education and in places of
employment. In order to address these challenges CITAD has on Saturday 10 th September, 2022
organized a one-day training workshop on Digital Skills and the use of Social Media for
Advocacy and Accountability for the Physically Challenged People in Kano State. The workshop
was part of CITAD project titled ‘Supporting and Amplifying the Voice of People with Disabilities
to demand for Accountability’ which initiated by CITAD to sensitize the association of PWDs to
raise voice on issues of accountability and inclusion and engage PWDs to tell their stories on the
impact of corruption on their lives. In his opening remark, Malam Sagiru Ado Abubakar, the
coordinator of the project said that this workshop was organized when the centre noted that
People living with disabilities are economically and politically excluded and also lack the voice
to make effective demand for inclusion and accountability on matters that affect them. He said
that there is need to support associations of people living with disabilities to project their voice
and demand for accountability and inclusion as well as help them to sustain that voice.

On his part, the Executive Director of the Centre, Engr. Yunusa Zakari Ya’u said the training will
support the physically challenged in the society and prepare them to be self-reliant and
demanding accountability from the leaders to seek alternative means through social media.
Engr. Ya’u added that the training is one of CITAD’s initiatives aimed at addressing the exclusion
of people with special needs on access to digital skills and the use of social media for advocacy.
The Executive Director was represented by Centre Communication and Campaign Officer, Ali
Sabo who added further that technology can serve as a powerful tool for public opinion that
could compel leaders to be accountable. That’s why the training aimed at bringing PWDs on
board and equipping them with digital skills and use of social media for advocacy.
The first presentation talked about the concept of accountability, it explained that
accountability is about using power responsibly. It involves taking account of the needs,
concerns, capacities and disposition of affected parties, and explaining the meaning of, and
reasons for, actions and decisions. Therefore, it also about the right to be heard and the duty to
respond, based on the following five dimensions: Transparency, Participation, Learning and
Evaluation, Staff Competencies and Attitude, Complaint and Response Mechanism (CRM).
Buhari Abba Rano made the second presentation on the use of social media platforms for
advocacy and accountability. He explained social media platforms as interactive digitally-
mediated technologies that facilitate the creation or sharing/exchange of information, ideas,
career interests, and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks. When
using social media, Rano said that make sure you can answer questions like:

• Why am I using this platform?

• Who will I reach on this platform?
• What post types work best on this platform?
• How are my posts unique to this platform?

If you have a hard time answering these questions, it might be time to dig deeper into why
you’re investing time there. Answering these questions will also help you develop your strategy
for that platform.
The last presentation was on Content Development by Ali Sabo. He explained that Social Media
Content plays a crucial role in achieving social media objectives such as brand recognition,
thought leadership, audience engagement, and lead generation. He added that, he content
allows you to cement your position as a go-to destination for your target audience, whether it is
for mobilization, advocacy, entertainment, education, or inspiration. According to Malam Ali
effective Social Media content will help you to build long term relationships with your audience.
One of the beneficiaries of the training, Amina Abubakar, described her experience during the
training as challenging and exciting, noting that she intends to further her knowledge in Digital
Skills so as to be competition worthy in the tech space.