Jarmakani: Nigeria Needs Sustainable Plan to Compete Globally

Managing Director of Aramex, Mr. Faysal Jarmakani speaks on the performance of Team Nigeria at this year’s Global Robotic Challenge in Switzerland, and the need for a sustainable plan that will enable Nigerian youths compete in globally. Emma Okonji presents the excerpts: 

You have been consistent in sponsoring Nigerian students to the annual First Global Robotic Challenge. What has been the motivating factor, and what is the benefit for your company and the Nigerian economy?

For six consecutive years, Aramex and I have been consistent in sponsoring Nigerian students to the First Global Robotic Challenge, and I sincerely thank the Nigerian media for recognising that. I will start by saying that it is the responsibility of every leader to be involved in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and I have chosen to sponsor Nigerian students yearly for the global competition, as my own contribution to the growth of Nigerian students. The students should be able to learn how to use the most powerful tool in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in solving challenges. I strongly believe in Nigerian youths because they are highly talented and I believe they will do better if given the international exposure to participate in First Global Robotic Challenge, and that is the motivating factor that is driving my passion to invest in Nigerian students. More than 50 per cent of the Nigerian population is youth and I strongly believe that if we improve the youths, we will also improve the economy. Although I have a white skin, but I am a Nigerian, my father was a Nigerian, I grew up in Nigeria, my children are in Nigeria and I am a Nigerian investor. So I take pleasure in investing in Nigerian students.

The impact it will create on the Nigerian economy is great, because we are driving our Logistics business with modern technology and we are passionate about robotic technology and that is the area we are exposing Nigerian students to. Technology has enabled us to solve challenges and it has enabled us to accelerate growth rapidly. If Nigeria as a country digitizes its economy, the country will become more efficient, and it all begins with the education system. So if Nigerian students are given the right education and exposed to the right technology, it will impact on the economy.

Being consistent with the sponsorship for six years, will you want to get government support or private sector support to cushion the financial burden, or is it an investment you are comfortable with?

The more government and the private sector are involved in the sponsorship, the better for us as a company. But from experience, we have learnt that if government is involved, things might slowdown because government is slow to driving business.

Our intention is to engage the parents of the beneficiaries, as well as alumni members that have benefitted from the initiative. We will structure it in such a way that the alumni could be part of the sponsors by way of giving back to the society. Our plan is to continue doing what we are doing in sponsoring Nigerian students to global robotic competition and as time goes by, we may involve the government and the private sector, if they are interested and willing. One thing I would want government to do is to infuse this our initiative into the school system, where students are thought robotics from school. Both the public and private sectors should see it as an opportunity to introduce robotics education in the school system.   

Can you tell us about this year’s sponsorship of Nigerian students to the First Global Challenge in Geneva, Switzerland?

The Nigeria team that participated in this year’s First Global Robotic Challenge in Geneva, Switzerland, from October 13th-16th, has showcased Nigeria as a country of talented people with digital skills that could be improved upon, if given the enabling environment.

Team Nigeria, made up of students from selected secondary schools, participated in the global robotic competition with other students from over 165 countries. 

As a philanthropist associated with multiple corporate social responsibility initiative, focused on advancing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education in Nigerian youth, I have been involved with the sponsorship of Nigerian students to the yearly competition, with support from Aramex, a delivery service company and joint venture partner of Aramex International LLC in Nigeria.

This year, five students represented Nigeria, which include: Tofunmi Olusodo of Supreme Education Foundation schools; Abdul-Qoyyum Oyadeyi of Oxbridge Tutorial College; Samuel Olaiya of Igbobi College Yaba; Famidah Yussuf, and Taimiyyah Abdullahi-Aliyu, both of Heritage Home Schools.

The theme for this year’s competition was ‘Carbon Capture’, designed to re-affirm the common goal of capturing and reducing carbon from the environment through simulation method.

For exemplifying the values of the First Global Community, demonstrating professionalism and building bridges with fellow teams from various countries, Team Nigeria came third place out of 40 other countries that participated in that category, and was awarded a bronze medal for the Dr. Mae Jemison Award for International Unity. 

The world is changing rapidly and we cannot afford to play back stage. Great economies that are emerging are driven by AI, Robotics, Machine Learning and others. For Nigeria to compete on the global stage, we need a deliberate and sustainable plan that will offer our youth such opportunities.

Do you have plans to sell the idea of robotic education to government and ensure that government builds it into the secondary school curriculum?

It is a laudable initiative that I think the government will like, but we must be careful in the way and manner we push it to government because if we scale it too quickly, it might get out of hand. I am in Lagos State, and I will like to first involve the state government, and work on the proof of concept, and test run it, before we can move to other sates of the federation. We have the foundation to scale it, but we will need the support and collaboration of government, because government has to support in order to provide incentives to the private sector that is ready to invest in the initiative. Most schools teach technology courses but do not have the basic infrastructure, like computers, laptops and internet access. So the participation of the public and private sector, will give room for expansion and growth.

What is your view about the willingness of Nigerian students adapting to digital and emerging technologies?

I always say that although Nigeria is not ranked as a technology country, but that Nigeria is a technology-enabled country. I usually say this because I have observed over the years that Nigerians are open and willing to learn. They are intelligent, and if given the enabling environment and the right tools, they will perform creditably. Global technology companies like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are hiring Nigerians in their organisations and these Nigerians are the ones that have been opportune to travel outside of the country to study technology related courses. When Nigerian students are exposed to global technology and are given the right technology tools to study, they excel in their studies, because they are resilient and willing to learn. So the few Nigeriens that have travelled and exposed globally, always excel. We have some of them hired in our establishment in Aramex, handling data collection and building our startup company. Nigerians are skilled and good in their studies, but the challenge is that the Nigerian government has not been able to develop the Nigerian tech ecosystem that will make Nigerians excel better. Silicon Valley for instance, has grown its tech ecosystem and has raised a community of coders who are busy researching on new technology development that will better the economy and the rest of the world. We do not have such in Nigeria. I think if the Nigerian government is able to establish good technology hubs in Nigeria, Nigerians will excel exceedingly.

Lack of sufficient technology infrastructure across Africa, is affecting African development. What can Nigeria do to address the situation?

It is about commitment and will-power of the African government to support technology growth. In Nigeria for instance, the annual budget is huge, but the allocation for Science and Technology is still low. Every development starts with the budget. If enough money is channeled to infrastructural development like roads, electricity, education, and it is well utilised, the challenge of infrastructure will be addressed. So we need good policies to address the infrastructural challenges of the country. Nigeria has great leaders, but I think the challenge is that our leaders are trying to fix too many challenges at the same time. Nigeria needs to fix technology infrastructure right and ensure interconnectivity of all its databases. Power and roads need to be fixed, and if these few infrastructures are fully addressed, government could move to others areas of development, and gradually the infrastructure challenges of the country will be addressed.

What have been your challenges in contributing to the growth of digital transformation in Nigeria?

The challenges are obvious, but we will continue to promote digital transformation across Nigeria. The situation can be likened to someone with a fast moving car on a bad road. The car cannot achieve maximum speed at any point in time when in motion, because of the bad road. So Nigeria has the right people that are resilience and willing to learn digital skills, but do not have the enabling environment. The leadership needs to identify the challenges and address them squarely.

Are you thinking of collaboration with other private sector organisations to enhance technology innovation in Nigeria?

Technology innovation is key to economic development of any nation, but the challenge I see is that most startup companies raise capital too quickly, even before they get their proof of concept ready. We need to instill confidence in our startups and encourage them not to be too much in a hurry to go to market with their products.  They need to understand the market and get their proof of concept ready before they hit the road running in order not to make mistakes that will return them back to the planning stage.  

The next frontier of technology development is in Africa, and all eyes of investors are in Africa, to see what kind of innovative products will come out of Africa. So, African governments need policies that will drive technology development across Africa, being the next frontier of technology development.

How do you see Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies creating digital jobs, while cutting down on traditional jobs?

Robotics technology, driven by AI technology, is not meant to replace humans and to take away traditional jobs, but I see it as an accelerator of digital jobs. AI will accelerate the amount of information needed at any point in time. However, robots do not have emotions, so we still need the role of the humans to handle some aspect of the jobs that the robot cannot effectively handle. If for example we have effective robotics in car manufacturing, it means there will be more cars produced and sold, which will reduce importation of such cars and that will create more jobs. Robotics is a mixture of Technology, Science, Engineering and Mathematics, where people in these areas come together to produce robots. The Nigerian government needs to digitize the Nigerian economy and get it connected through automation, digitization and robotics.