…Calls on Tinubu, Akpabio to drive the process
A tech firm based in Port Harcourt may have found formula to create 120m jobs, according to its CEO, Kristopher Wiseben, who is regarded as Nigeria’s tech strategist and innovator.
The CEO has however urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Godwsill Akpabio, the senate president, to pay heed to the proposition, saying that is how it is done in other nations who pay heed to whatever proposal a citizen put forward.
Wiseben is known for grassroots digital empowerment campaigns and system level innovation thinking aimed at youth employment and national transformation.
He said this was because Nigeria has continued to grapple with soaring youth unemployment which he says creates uncontrollable insecurity and a backward economy.
The tech strategist and innovation advocate, who is the founder and CEO of the Nigeria Technological Takeoff (NTT) thus unveiled what he called a bold national framework aimed at transforming the Nigerian state into a digital powerhouse while generating millions of sustainable jobs.
He showed a system that can make the youths earn up to $5bn per year and boost Nigeria’s foreign reserve. With proper implementation and political will, he said, Nigeria can create over 10 million tech and tech enabled jobs in less than three years, and over 100 million by 2032.
Wiseben who is known in some circles as the ‘Universal Intelligence’ (UI) behind the sixth phase strategy of the takeoff of Nigeria’s technological takeoff presented what he termed a structured and solution-driven response to Nigeria’s unemployment crisis.
He said that the crisis is constantly and consistently metamorphosing to Nigeria’s insecurity, revealing that NTT focuses on technological advancement. “We are no longer in a wait-and-see-era. Technology is not the future; it is the now.”
He went on: “The faster Nigeria moves from analog thinking to digital execution, the sooner we will unlock jobs, it’s potentials, prosperity and and purpose for our people,” Wiseben told journalists in Port Harcourt during a strategic engagement session.
Saying he has formula from theory to transformation, Wiseben proposed outlines of a multi-tiered strategy that he says touches on education, infrastructure, entrepreneurship, and global competitiveness, all linked by technology and youth-driven innovation.
He named them as human capital ignition which calls for immediate reform of what he calls Nigeria’s obsolete education system, asking for the inclusion of coding, data analytics, digital marketing, artificial intelligence, and robotics in primary to tertiary curricula.
The next he suggested is the rollout of ‘Tech for Youth Centers’ in all 774 local government areas of the country, providing free access to digital skills training. He called for deeper collaboration with private ed-tech firms like AltSchool, Decagon, and Andela. “The classroom must be reimagined as the first coding lab of the African child. We are building people before we build programmes,” he noted.
He harped on need for digital infrastructure activation, saying the second phase should target the structural gaps that prevent digital access. Wiseben stressed the urgent need to boost broadband penetration to over 70% of the populace by 2030, extend 5G networks to urban and tech clusters, and build constant electricity with solar-powered digital hubs in states and cities of Nigeria. He noted: “Power and internet are the oxygen of the tech ecosystem. We cannot create jobs if we cannot connect,” he said.
In what he called the third pillar of his proposition, Wiseben mentioned startup ecosystem empowerment, and called for deliberate regional decentralization of the startup economy, shifting focus from Lagos alone to emerging cities such as Ibadan, Aba, Zaria, Onitsha and Uyo. He proposed the creation of ‘Innovation Cities’ with free workspaces, non-equity seed funding, and a 10-year tax holiday for registered tech startups.
A national digital development fund, he said, should support early-stage businesses, with transparency and youth inclusion at its core basement. “Reinventing traditional sectors through smart technology beyond the tech sector itself, Wiseben argued that the greatest employment opportunities lie in “smartening” Nigeria’s traditional sectors.
He talked on ‘Industry digitization agriculture’ which he said would use drones, GPS mapping, and mobile extension services to drive smart farming.
On healthcare, he proposed telemedicine platforms, AI-assisted diagnostics, and health record digitalization to expand reach.
On education, he called for virtual reality labs, e-learning platforms, and content localization to transform classroom learning. These innovations, he explained, can create new job roles in digital logistics, agro-data analysis, remote support, and tech servicing.
To position Nigeria for global digital export, Wiseben mentioned what he called remote work and global freelance integration, tapping into the fast-growing global remote workforce. He laid out a plan to empower Nigerian youths to work for international tech firms from their local environments. He proposed the establishment of ‘Remote Work Hubs’ in every state capital, equipped with high-speed internet, uninterrupted power, and career support services.
On what he called ‘Work Global, Earn Local’ system hinged on a national freelance certification programme and awareness campaign, he said it would encourage Nigerian youths to monetize their digital skills internationally. “If five million Nigerians earn $1,000 per month online, that’s about $5 billion a month injected into the local economy. This is not fiction. This is a digital oil field.”
He said governance, trust, and institutional reform is the sixth strategy, saying policy and legal frameworks could sustain this vision.
Wiseben stressed the importance of digital governance: data protection laws, intellectual property rights, startup friendly regulations, and the creation of a Ministry of Technology and Employment.
He also called for a ‘Nigeria Future Council on Technology’, consisting of innovators, academia, legal experts, and youth leaders to advise the federal government on evolving tech policy.
He thus made a call to action for every Nigerian, concluded with a passionate message to Nigerian youths, urging them not to wait for opportunities, but to create them through technology. “You are not a burden. You are the robotic button Nigeria desperately needs. Learn a digital skill, start something, collaborate. The internet is your university and your office. Use it.”
He also appealed to the private sector and policymakers to move or shift beyond platitudes and take bold action that reflects the urgency of the times.
He urged the Federal Government to convene an ‘Emergency Digital Employment Summit’ bringing together key stakeholders for national alignment and readjustment.
He said: “Nigeria’s Technological Takeoff has a runway. The engine is ready. All we need is thrust. And the youth are the jet fuel.”
