Digital Village to host Youth Agenda-06

By Remmy Nweke

Lagos Digital Village (LDV) in partnership with the Paradigm Initiative Nigeria (PIN) has advanced plans to host Nigerian youth to its annual ‘Youth Agenda’ 2006 forum.

Sponsored by the Heinrich Boll Foundation (HBF), the Youth Agenda 2006 has the theme, “ICTs for Rural Development (ICT4RD)”. This development is coming as deadline for submission of applications draw nearer.

Programme Manager, Lagos Digital Village, Mr. Gbenga Sesan informed correspondent that this is in alliance with the vision of the village to raise, “a new generation of Nigerian youth who are well equipped with appropriate Information Technology (IT) skills and are well positioned for personal development, nation building and global participation.”

Beyond LDV’s traditional training, he said, the village hosts young people who may be computer literate but wish to explore additional opportunities that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) offers.

Mr. Sesan, noted that one of such discussions is delivered in partnership with Paradigm Initiative Nigeria (PIN), and it introduces youth to possible application of their ICT knowledge in nation building.

Dubbed “Youth Agenda”, the forum is expected to assemble between 30 and 50 young people to discuss thematic issues that would be pre-defined before their selection from a pool of interested youth.

He also said that this year, the forum would discuss holistically, the approach in the use of ICTs for rural development.

And working with local youth leaders, Youth Agenda 2006, would consider the effective model of “Village Resource/Knowledge Centres” that could grow into “Digital Villages” and also serve the purpose of meeting Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for their local community.

According to the programme manager, LDV current mission was inspired by the MSSRF Knowledge Centres in India along with the Mission 2007 project.

“We will discuss possible ICT-enabled projects for rural community volunteers such as Community Newspapers and Information Centers,” he said.

While expressing gratitude to HBF for the sponsorship, Mr. Sesan also said that LDV is now accepting applications from qualified youth who are already active in their local communities, especially those who work outside the popular urban centers that are already open to numerous project support opportunities.

He emphasized that selected project representatives will bear their cost of traveling and accommodation while in Lagos, while application should include a resume and cover letter of about 500 words, providing detail of works and activities so far, even as it should be sent to yagenda@lagosdigitalvillage.org.ng, just as applications must be received before 12noon on Saturday, May 13, 2006.