By Praise Chinecherem
Over 2000 students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State have been trained on crypto currency trading to make them financially independent while in school using Yellow Card and Blockchain.
The UNIZIK Blockchain Conference organised by Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria (SiBAN) in collaboration with Anambra State ICT Agency, Yellow Card, Crypto Bootcamp Community and UNIZIK Blockchain Lab has as its theme “Opportunities in Blockchain and the future of Web3.”
Addressing students at Chike Okoli Centre for Entrepreneurship Studies UNIZIK, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Anambra State ICT Agency, Mr Fred Agbata commended the efforts of the organizers of the event in deepening the Blockchain inclusion statewide.
Agbata, represented by the Executive Assistant to the Governor on Digital Transformation, Mr Harrison Onuoha noted that Government of Prof Chukwuma Soludo was committed and supportive to such initiatives, assuring Government’s efforts toward creating favorable environment for Blockchain technology to thrive.
Speaking on the Emerging technology in Africa, the President of SiBAN, Mr Obinna Iwuno said Blockchain technology is the newest emerging technology in the 21st century, hence the need for youths to get acquainted with the technology and grow in it
“There are so many values in that ecosystem that is not being captured and we dont want anybody to be left out of place.
“You need education to operate blockchain technology and acquire a skill that will make you to become a service provider or an innovator in the ecosystem. Because what we need is the innovators and service providers in the ecosystem, all doing the blockchain acceleration for Africa because blockchain has massive potentials for Africa.
“For us, it is going to help us build a lot of infrastructure and solutions that will solve problems that we can relate with. And that is why Blockchain is such a big deal and matters for which this event is organised.
“This event was not put up to be on record for them to be excited and entertained, but for them to be impacted with value, shown direction and then to take action. So we are counting on them to play their own part of getting into the ecosystem, discovering where they can belong to and what they can do.
“We want to see technology grow, we want to see a lot of innovations. My charge to them is for this event not stop today but let it be the beginning of something great for them in this tech era”, so concluded Mr Iwuno who is also the chairman of CBC.
Also speaking, Paolo Abamwa, Marketing Manager at Yellow Card Nigeria said their mission is to ensure financial inclusion for every African in the continent with a view to bringing financial services and solutions across the continent.
This, he noted, is one of the media they use while going to different locations to champion crypto currency and crypto adoption to educate people about the Blockchain, Crypto currency and Yellow Card.
“Yellow Card is an exchance where people can easily purchase crypto currency, sell and recieve crypto across the African continent. We also have a feature called Yellow Pay that makes people to easily send money across borders in about 17 African countries.
“Send your local currency to other countries and they will recieve it in their own currency. We use USBT to back it up for purchase and they will recieve it in their own local currency. Deposit is free while you pay #100 for withdrawals irrespective of the amount being withdrawn. Yellow Card is easy to use and we have an academy for people to learn.
“We are doing it for quite sometime. The financial literacy started last year September and we have been to about 12 schools (Uniben, UniAbuja, ESUT, FUTO) basically to educate people to learn more about crypto currency, blockchain and improving their finances.
“We are satisfied with the outcome of the event as many students showed energy, great turnout and willingness to learn. Definitely a win for us.”
The event later dissolve to panel discussion wherein the discussants Uzondu Joshua, Ifeanyichukwu John, Okoli Evans and Jtalks established the need for creating value as a young tech link in the 21st Century.
Here, they urged the participants to have personal branding, contribute to societal needs and build experience, network, engage in volunteerism, join communities of people that guide and protect them in event of any difficulty encountered on the job as well as master a technology that will solve real world problem.
Other panel sessions were held that allowed startups, web developers, traders, tech enthusiasts, and others to discuss the potential of blockchain, crypto and IT skills for the new generation.
Some students Chukwuma Nzube and Eze Samson who participated in the event, expressed readiness to impact the knowledge they have learnt to others with a view to unlocking opportunities in Blockchain in line with the contemporary web3 future of Nigeria.
