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Nasir Abdulqadir Yammama
Nigerian
18 years old
Informatics Institute, Kazaure, Nigeria
Photography and Writing

I am a very curious person. I enjoy finding things out and sharing them with others. I go an extra mile to find information about new books, movies, gadgets… or even how an insect feeds, and I would then tell anybody who cared to listen. When I don’t get anybody to tell, I write. And that's the next best thing.

I graduated from Government Secondary School, Minna (a High School) in Nigeria, July 2007. I enjoyed my stay in the school enormously. Normally, the school has an eye on any kind of special talent or interest a student has or wants to develop. I loved writing and expressing myself generally. Before I knew it, I was doing debates, writing contests and quiz competitions along side my fellow students who liked crafting items, singing, athletics... you name it. In my second year, a computer library was set up by SchoolNet in GSS (my school) and other government schools across the nation. I had a prior experience with a notebook computer at home, but I barely knew the rudiments of operating it. Although our computer classes hardly left us with enough knowledge to all claim being computer literate, everyone was all smiles that computer studies have been introduced to our curricula.

In months to come, I got to know more about computers on my own and also got to discover the unlimited resources of the internet, which I found rather amusing. I developed more interest on the idea of the internet; I wanted to know how it works, who operates it, how websites are made, what tools are used ... and countless other things. Then came a web based resource program called Global Teenager. The school nominated me and a couple of students with a teacher to participate, which we did vehemently. As the program entailed sharing knowledge and ideas, I became completely enthralled. That left me with a wealth of knowledge about other teenagers around the world and indeed a great deal of experience on using the internet, judiciously.

Owing to our excellent performance at the Global Teenager, SchoolNet Nigeria sponsored me and three other students from around Nigeria to attend the International Education and Resource Network (IEARN) annual international conference in the Netherlands, 2005. That would have been my first international IT outing had it not been for visa problems we encountered at the Dutch embassy. I couldn’t attend the conference. But I refused to let go. And then came the big one. SchoolNet was training students on Microsoft office and FrontPage tagged Mtandao Afrika. GSS was one of the centers and I was part. We did it successfully and we were then introduced to the web developing contest, Mtandao Afrika.

My first try on Mtandao was not quite successful; as it was the first of its kind my team members and I were doing. I did not have a computer at the time anyway. But that did not stop me. With my knowledge of web design from the Mtandao training I got sponsored to attend a national youth web designing competition in Nigeria in August 2006. That was the start of it.

Added to the success of the national competition, SchoolNet Nigeria, again, sponsored us to attend the Mtandao Afrika youth camp in Cairo, Egypt. The youth camp wasn’t a jamboree. It encompassed lectures, tourism, competition and above all, interacting in one cause and interest. It was a big school on its own. I learned so many new things ranging from computer programs to collaboration and social networking. And that was the most interesting part of it all. There were students from all over Africa, and their coaches, representing various important topics and ideas, unraveling hidden information on health issues, environmental problems, culture, tourism and more. We lived together and shared one spirit of innovation and creativity throughout our stay. That did change our lives in a way or another. One thing I’m sure of is the fact that it has made all of us to acknowledge, accept and embrace information technology’s immense importance and potential.

I have found a new artistic way of presenting my writing, my ideas. I call it artistic because it involves creation, like writing itself or painting or any other art you could think of. It is in fact a new age art in itself. It is called web development. I can now call myself a web developer. And that is in itself, a profession as it involves marvelous things like database management, graphics design, programming, word processing and countless other things. In cases of competitions or teamwork, web development is a special environment that will make you accommodate other people and collaborate with them. I am an expert at that now, and so are countless other teenagers across Africa. Thanks to Mtandao Afrika.

Now that its payback time, I have taken up the task of spreading and creating awareness about Mtandao Afrika to places, far as my voice can reach. And that is too little a contribution on my part, as a person who wants to open his eyes one day to see an ignorance-free Africa and indeed as a person who enjoys sharing. I will advice every youth that has got breath in his body to come out and express himself in Mtandao Afrika. Come out and discover your innovative nature. And to the supporters and organizers of Mtandao Afrika, I have my two hands thumbed up in the air to you, for a job well done. God help you. And to you reading this story, I will share a favorite quote, for you to ponder upon;