By 
By Emmanuel Yinka Fagbenle
Director-General of Plateau State Information and Technology Development Agency (PICTDA), Mr. Daser David has said that with more exposure to technology, kids in Plateau State, central Nigeria could be an inspiration to the world.
The state is gradually coming out of a long night of conflicts since 2001 that heavily impacted on business, peace and social cohesion.
Daser spoke in Jos, Plateau State administrative capital city, while celebrating Master Longji David Ayuba, the talented 12 year Old tech savvy with extensive exposure to software engineering and is a developer at Nhub, the Jos-based tech innovation hub.
Daser said Ayuba is an inspiration for young people in Jos who are interested in building a carrier in IT. He has been at the forefront of getting more kids into developing interest in software programming. Ayuba wishes to change the world using IT. He started teaching himself programming at a very young age before joining NHub at the age of 10.
PICTDA is the regulatory agency for IT in Plateau State and also has the mandate to leverage IT to build capacity for the state’s teeming population. PICTDA has series of initiatives in partnership with other stakeholders geared at helping to build new skill sets in young people.
Since joining Nhub, he has been involved in the development of over ten apps and currently working on an app that will allow university students to sell their products in inside the school premises without the requirement of a shop or sales stand. From the comfort of their classroom or hostels, students could leverage the app to buy and sell their products or services. The app is currently on Playstore for Android and the iOS (iPhone) version will soon be rolling out. The University of Jos and University of Abuja have already started using the app.
“Longji is currently an instructor at the hub and has spoken in many tech events such as PICTDA’s SevoCoder Summer Training,” said David.
“The kids rallied around him for help and inspiration, they felt more comfortable discussing with him on their challenges and he has always listen and is supportive.
“PICTDA continues to work to change the narrative of our culture as they push for digital revolution with the aid of the Governor Simon Bako Lalong and all the hubs in the state.
“We aim at adding coding curriculum in our public schools soon,” added David.
