Don urges students to use smartphones for development
A university don has challenged Nigerian students to turn their smartphones into tools for innovation, cultural promotion, and national development. Prof. Hope Eghagha of the Department of English, University of
A university don has challenged Nigerian students to turn their smartphones into tools for innovation, cultural promotion, and national development.
Prof. Hope Eghagha of the Department of English, University of Lagos, made the call while delivering a lecture titled Cultural Constellations and Intersections in Virtual Space at the Distinguished Scholar Lecture Series held at Southern Delta University, Orerokpe Campus in Okpe Local Government Area.
He urged youths to redirect their digital skills away from fraud and toward productive ventures.
“Students, that smartphone you have is an asset. You can use it to further your way into the world. You can create content. Youths, channel your digital skills from fraudulent activities to positive things.
“I have students I teach at the University of Lagos who managed to pay their fees from content creation. The virtual space has democratised access to knowledge anywhere you are.
“You can market this university better than the sciences. You can create content with cultural songs from this environment, songs from Urhoboland, and showcase them in the digital world. With that, you can showcase yourselves to the world. Those platforms you use for nefarious things, use them for positive things. You can challenge the world with your smartphone through the content that you create.
“I urge you, break into the digital space through content creation with your smartphones. You can do a fusion of Udje dance and internationalise it.
“Our boys who are into internet fraud are intelligent and brilliant. It is only an intelligent brain that can persuade someone to send their retirement and hard-earned money through a romance scam. Imagine the greatness they would achieve if they channel that intelligence into something positive. If you are into that profession, please think of how you can get out of it and use that mind to do something legitimate. You can become a billionaire with that brain.
“The world is so digital now that students can educate and train themselves through digital platforms such as Coursera and the rest. Information is no longer confined to the library space. We should do a hybrid of education. We need mentorship programmes to help our youth and people rethink development. We can harness digital culture for sustainable development," he said.
Eghagha stressed that the digital space has democratised access to knowledge and global opportunities, allowing students to build brands, promote local culture, and earn legitimate income.
In his remarks, the Dean of the Postgraduate School, Delta State University, Abraka, Prof. Sunny Awhefeada, said digital access has expanded research frontiers and reshaped academic scholarship.
“In my department at Abraka, some of the topics we now approve for PhD, some 10 years ago, would have been taboo, but that is possible now because of access to the digital space. The government should do more, and teachers should be liberal because this old order is passing away.
"A time is coming when nobody will be reading paper in its present form; it is going to be reduced minimally into something that the digital space can support. In the next 10 to 20 years, the Nigerian government, from local to federal, should do something to ensure that digital culture becomes a way of life. That is where the world is headed, and Nigeria cannot be left behind,” Awhefeada.