The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, has urged parents to guide their children to watch only programmes that add value to their lives.
Ogundipe said this at the recent graduation ceremony of a six-week 2021 summer training in coding and robotics at the university.
He said, “Parents should guide our children to watch more robotic programmes, rather than just any other programme.”
Ogundipe added, “We want to catch them young. We cannot afford to lag behind, and that is why today we are celebrating the future of Nigeria. What we have done is to bring these children together, which started in 2018. We also brought them together in 2019 to learn more about robotics and artificial intelligence.”
He noted that “we are trying to expose children between ages 11 and 15, especially girls,” in the area of robotics and artificial intelligence so that they will learn science and technology.
Ogundipe also appealed to public-spirited individuals to support the university with sponsorship to keep the initiative going.
He also urged the children to pay more attention to programmes focused on robotics, artificial intelligence, and programme writing.
The Coordinator, Artificial Intelligence and Robotic Lab of the university, Dr. Chika Yinka-Banjo, noted that the essence of the ceremony was to give the graduands the platform to showcase what they had learnt all through the summer.
She said a total of 56 children, especially girls enrolled on the programme, but 49 of the total number made it to the end.
”The aim is to build skills in the future generation of this country. You know if you have a skill and you understand what is going on in the area of technology in the world, you will be able to make a choice as you grow older, and you will be able to learn some skills that will help you become an independent entrepreneur,” she added.
Mrs. Funmi Anyike, the sponsor of this year’s summer camp, expressed satisfaction with what the children learnt in the short period.
”I am highly impressed with what I have seen here today, the way they are manipulating the software. It is indeed a life-changing experience for these children,” said Ayinke. ”Artificial intelligence, robotics and coding is the trend now, and we are happy. These ones have made us proud as they can compete favourably with their counterparts from other climes.”
