EMMANUEL UKUDOLO l Saturday, July 21, 2018
IYALA, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria – Nine year old child prodigy, Emmanuella Oziofu Mayaki on Friday unveiled Emma’s Academy App, the educational app she has developed before a gathering of journalists, (print, online and electronic) at the NUJ Press Centre in Lagos, Nigeria.
The Emma’s Academy App, already on Google place store showcases her skills and her computer academy where she offers to pass on her knowledge of coding and graphics.
Speaking at the ceremony, an experienced journalist and Online Editor, The Nation Newspaper, Mr. Lekan Otunfodirin said the emergence of Emmanuella Oziofu Mayaki as an ICT expert was historic and called on Nigerians to support her, stressing that the youths are actually the leaders of tomorrow.
He called on Nigerian journalists to rise up to the occasion by learning multimedia skills so as to become relevant in the digital age.
In his remarks, Chairman Nigerian Union of Journalists, Dr. Qasim Akinreti said the knowledge economy offers second value for journalists.
“It is good this is happening here, what we are doing is competing with content producers”, he said, adding that most bloggers are not trained journalists and that by the trend, journalists seems to have succeeded in ceding their rights to non professionals who don’t really adhere to ethics of the profession.
He congratulated Emmanuella Oziofu Mayaki for adding value to mobile app development and content dissemination, stressing that there is no barrier in the knowledge economy.
“It is about knowledge, if at this tender age, she has developed an App, the sky’s the limit”, he said.
Speaking on her journey into the world of ICT, her father, John Mayaki said the journey started way back in Benin and that she was very inquisitive asking what his father was doing with his computer and at other times sharing his system with her. He said that while on holiday, she spoke of her desire to go for summer coaching. “Instead of summer coaching, I asked her to enroll for computer training during the period”. And gradually, she progressed until she got certified in development of web applications. Currently, she parades 6 certificates in ICT, all obtained from California, United States.
Earlier, while presenting her profile, Mr. Ade Adeleye said he met her when she was 8 and that she vowed to launch her first App by 9, adding that she has attained her dream. He said that Nigeria can do more by creating ICT centres in school to help young people like Emmanuella attain their dreams. Emmanuella Mayaki kept many in the audience spellbound when she started taking all through all she has done till date. From her explanation, she has produced over 12 websites, static and dynamic for her school and to project her skills, among which is a web agency to teach people how to build a website.
“My target is to become a professional web designer and analyst at age 9, and I have accomplished it,” she said in January.
“The fact that a girl so young could have so clear a vision and take steps towards achieving it is a project worth celebrating not just for her, but for the country as it is a sign that we can still produce even more Emmanuella. It is a tangible beacon for the future that the country can be handled when our time is done and spent to these ones who have dared to dream”, Adeleye said.
Also speaking, Creative Director DVP, Boluwaji Apanishe, her teacher underscored the reasons for parents to give room to their children when it comes to computer usage. According to him, it is wrong for parents not to allow children of 7 to go near their computer, fearing that they will spoil it whereas children of 7 are doing well in ICT. He described Emmanuella Oziofu Mayaki as very hard working, tireless and always wanting to do it.
He described her as one of the few risk takers, with no sentiment. He spoke of what children her age are doing in other climes when it comes to development of web applications and how some have developed apps to identify animal sounds and apps to protect children in trouble.
“So having Emmanuella in Nigeria is one of the best thing to happen in this country. She always wanted to know more”, he said.
EMMANUELLA OZIOFU MAYAKI AT A GLANCE
Throughout Nigeria’s remarkable history, one of her problems has been ineffective management of her impressive human resources. Although regarded as the most populous country in Africa, Nigeria relies excessively on foreign professionals to execute certain professional tasks and this has affected the labour market within the country. Our youths, as has been generally observed, are not strangers to (pardon the paradox) some quite intellectual crimes on both local and international terrains. These are minds that could have developed the country if attention had been paid to draft them to the side of the Law and not allowing them stray against it.
However, some bright sparks occasionally shine through this tenebrous reality, and, not minding the state of matters, they push to make something for themselves. One of those, who has refused an unflattering place in the country’s anthology of untapped talents, is our young Emmanuella Oziofu, whose star, like the Biblical star of the nativity in the East, has drawn us here today.
Despite being young in age, Emmanuella has done enough to prove that she is in possession of a big brain and a sound mind. Her incredible penchant to create something new, with a view to solving problems in Nigeria, is eye catching.
Miss Emmanuella was born on the 7th of January 2009. She is a Grade 5 student of Skycrest Schools. She enrolled at Mikon Institute of Information Technology, where she graduated and bagged a Certificate in Basic Training – Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint – and later on, a Diploma in Desktop Publishing in 2016.
Thereafter, she enrolled at Complete Computer Technology Institute (CCT), where she studied Web Design, graduated in 2017, and bagged a certificate in Web Design.
In 2018, she furthered her career, despite her routine class work and enrolled to study Web Development and Graphic Design at NIIT.
Emmanuella went ahead to enrol for Mobile App development at Tech24 and developed her personal mobile app, as well as she designed and hosted her own website, known as Emma’s ICT Academy.
She is knowledgeable in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, JQuery, WordPress, PHP, Mysql and Graphic Design. To that effect, Emmanuella in April 2018 successfully completed and bagged the following online certificates from SOLOLEARN, California:
1. Certificate in HTML Fundamentals Course
2. Certificate in PHP Tutorial Course
3. Certificate in CSS Fundamentals Course
4. Certificate in SQL Fundamentals Course
5. Certificate in JavaScript Tutorial Course
6. Certificate in JQuery Tutorial Course
She was a pupil of Fortune Schools in Benin City, Edo State but later travelled to Lagos where she has been a student of Skycrest Schools, and has not let the fact that she was born just 9 years ago disillusion her into thinking Time is on her side. She already has the drive and presence of mind of an adult, effectively discovering and adequately honing her talent in web development.
Her journey into the multi-faceted terrain of Information Communication Technology commenced when she was just 7 years old, and now, two years on and aged 9, she already has a diploma in Desktop Publishing, Advance Excel, Adobe Page Maker, Advance Power Point and Corel Draw.
Emmanuella has, after carefully working out a plan, succeeded in designing a website. At an age where most girls would prefer to have all things handed over to them, this particular young girl is picking things up by herself.
Emmanuella calls her creation “the Food Website”, and this quite plainly understates its purpose, which is a beautiful testament to the young lady’s humanity. She designed “the Food Website” to encourage people, including parents and their children to imbibe a culture of eating healthy local and international dishes. Her aim is also to help people cut down massively on harmful junk-laden diet.
Apparently, the insalubrious consumption of junk has been a solid problem for many people, who later go on to attain varying levels of obesity. The people do not like it, and neither does Emmanuella, so she has set out to help correct that.
A Futuristic Young Woman
Emmanuella is not just stopping at developing her website, she wants to do something more; transmogrify the website as an app on Google Play Store and launch it before her 10th birthday in 2019.
The young girl, who studied web design at the Complete Computer Technology Centre in Benin, is bent on having her website set up to meet with standard practice.
Emmanuella, the young ICT guru, does not think knowledge should be hoarded. She has also revealed that she would in future help to teach young children about ICT and also broaden her knowledge about the field. Summing up her intentions, Emmanuella has asserted that she wants to break certain records before she attains the age of 14.
Many More ‘Emmanuellas’ Waiting To Hit Limelight
Without a doubt, there are lots of young girls and boys like Emmanuella with incredible talent around Nigeria, but who need some form of encouragement. They need an adequate enabling environment to function properly and hone their skills better to produce incredible works of utter genius.
The Federal Government is urged to go about creating a truly enabling environment to help children at a very young age like Emmanuella to learn ICT and grow in it.
It is noteworthy that young children in places like China are doing awesomely in the field of technology because they have been given the enabling environment to function. The Nigerian government can do the same by creating good ICT infrastructure in schools around the country and encouraging young kids like Emmanuella, who have a desire to delve into technology, to pursue their dreams.
