Amanda Obidike is a social entrepreneur, the founder of STEMi Makers Africa, and a certified professional in STEM by the Open University in the UK. In this interview by KINGSLEY ALUMONA, she speaks about her passion for humanitarian endeavours, her work in the STEM space, how Nigeria can make its basic school system digitally driven, and the power of the social media for social good.
Briefly tell us about your university education, and how it prepared you for your career in humanitarian and social enterprising.
My work in the social good and in the humanitarian space began at the age of 12. Growing up, I loved to volunteer, and I began teaching at a good news club for kids in Babs Animashaun Bode Thomas in Lagos. In 2013, I went to Obafemi Awolowo University in Osun State to study Business Management because I admired my parents’ entrepreneurial tenacity to thrive. My first degree in Business Administration prepared me to build sustainable strategies and measure-impact metrics in the non-profit space.
Your profile says your goal is to tackle youth unemployment and gender-digital gap. What inspired these passions in you, and how long have you been tackling these issues?
After graduation, I worked as a sales lead with an FMCG company. But after two years, I got restless and quit the job. I knew there was more to life than working Mondays through Sundays. I was without a job for 10 months, and I channelled my depression in researching new labour-market skills and exploring fields that women like me can thrive in. Soon, I realised the meaningful and lucrative jobs available required technical skills that I didn’t originally have after graduation. Nigeria also began to transfer major resources and job opportunities to skilled professionals and expatriates due to lack of competent and domestic STEM workforce.
It was in 2018 that my life turned around. I got an opportunity to be trained by IBM in Business Intelligence and Data Analytics. Upon completion of the training, I took the initiative to serve as a knowledge panel and build an ‘Africa By Us, For Us’ ecosystem that will prepare diverse young talents with future-focused options in STEM lucrative pathways to become more experienced for Africa’s workforce.
You are the founder of STEMi. Tell us about it and the impact it has made so far in the society.
STEMi Makers Africa is a non-profit organisation that builds diverse African talents with lucrative STEM resources and skills. Today, we have designed a national innovation base that supports key sectors of the economy, including agriculture, energy, healthcare, information and communication technologies, manufacturing, and artificial intelligence.
We have maintained one of the greatest strategies in helping over 78 communities in 20 African countries and over 30,000 young people develop job skills, improve educational outcomes, provide opportunities to succeed. Also, we are planning ahead not to leave the younger generation feeling displaced and inheriting a more fragmented world than we live in today.
We have been awarded on two projects, which are: The STEM Integration and Development training for 100 educators (2019) in Ajeromi-Ifelodun, Amuwo-Odofin and Ojo local government areas of Lagos State and the South-East Edition of empowering 300 educators to raise students’ achievement in STEM (2020). Through these projects, we cultivated a STEM workforce in partnership with the US Consulate in Nigeria to streamline STEM education and refine 400 educators’ instructional pedagogy where students will be allowed to solve ill-defined problems, make real-world connections while deepening content knowledge and preparing them for STEM careers.
Our social impact record has fostered partnerships with the African Union, 16 local and state governments, tech organisations like Oracle Academy, Google, IBM, and Microsoft who believe in helping Africans to become technology innovators and leaders.
STEMi, in collaboration with the U.S. Consulate in Nigeria, recently inaugurated STEM innovation clubs in Enugu State. Why did you choose Enugu instead of other states?
We actually had this project across the South-Eastern region of Nigeria, including Imo, Anambra, Enugu and Abia states. This was courtesy of being a grant recipient of the public affairs section of the US Consulate General, to create a solid STEM foundation through a four-phased integrated approach to ensure that educators have skill sets that allow them to inform students on STEM career prospects, motivate and support them throughout their education/career. At the end of each project held in the states, educators and participant schools were required to set up initiatives in their classrooms for continuous STEM learning and practice.
As a certified professional in STEM, in what ways can the government ensure that the 2030 Nigerian workforce has enough STEM-educated people to drive the 2030 economy?
If current trends continue, by 2050 some one-third of Nigeria’s forty million young people will lack basic proficiency in math, reading, and STEM subjects. Millions will be unemployable and unproductive. To remain competitive in a growing global economy where 96 per cent of jobs are now automated, it is important to raise young people’s achievement in STEM pathways and skills of the future by empowering educators, marginalised communities and talents for effective transition from education to employment.
The government can begin by looking at designed key recommendations for developing Nigeria’s human and social capital through an education and skill revolution, emphasising science and technology within the context of the implementation of SDG4 and CESA 2025 to contribute to the realisation of Agenda 2063 vision of a prosperous and more equitable Nigeria based on inclusive growth and sustainable development. They also need to collaborate with existing organisations that are driving STEM to re-orient Nigeria’s education and training systems to meet the knowledge, competencies, skills, innovation and creativity required to nurture Nigeria’s core values and promote sustainable development at the national, regional and local levels.
If you were the president of Nigeria, in what ways would you ensure that primary and secondary schools, especially those in the grassroots, have basic digital and computing skills?
Nations that thrive today ensure education is a number one priority.
I would ensure that a new designed plan and policy breaks the wall of inherited, disconnected education institutions and corrects existing cultural and social-gender biases to ensure an inclusive and equitable education. This national plan, policies and systems, will include management and monitoring mechanisms with SDG4, equitable education, as an important agenda. It would also regularise in-service STEM educator training that includes mentorship, project-based, inquiry-based learning and environmental innovation-focused pedagogy, and investment in ICT integration.
How many countries have your work in STEM and youth empowerment taken you to? And how do you get support and sponsorship for these works?
We are currently working in 20 African countries and four Middle East and North Africa (MENA) nations. It has not been easy, but we synergise and collaborate with community-led initiatives in these countries and identify esteemed organisations whose core values are service, and are passionate about STEM in designing local programmes and initiatives.
You were recently awarded the 2021 prestigious Diana Award. What does the award mean to you and your work?
Princess Diana, of blessed memory, is an embodiment of love, service and kindness. These three values are what the world needs today. Winning this award came as a surprise, but I am grateful that my work at STEMi Makers Africa was notably seen and recognised to be amongst the Diana Hall of Fame.
Growing up, I loved to serve, service to God and service to humanity. For me, it’s a dream come true and a charge to keep doing the best for humanity.
You once published a LinkedIn article on ‘social media for social good’. Do you think social media has done more harm than good in Nigeria?
I believe the social media is a profitable tool that can drive national actions for social good. For example, we saw how the social media helped unravel the murder of late Iniobong Umoren in Akwa Ibom, when she was seeking to get a job. Imagine there was no social media and Nigerians actively engaging online to find the deceased.
In a country where freedom of expression and speech is encouraged, I believe the social media is a tool that helps initiatives to fundraise for community actions, showcase work, connect with partners and help young people to verbally express their thoughts while engaging in healthy conversations.
I sincerely hope the government would reconsider its action towards the Twitter ban.
How do you manage the challenges you encounter in your work?
There are times when work may seem overwhelming or I may feel completely worn out. I recently developed this ‘I-cannot-come-and-kill-myself’ approach, where I would shut my computer, mobile devices and just take a long walk. It has helped me not to put too much pressure on myself and to take life step by step. It has also helped me to be more productive.
You are popularly known as ‘Chirpy’ on the social media. Why is that?
‘Chirpy’ is a word used to describe someone who is happy, cheerful and vibrant. It was a name given to me by my friends in the university when they realised I always shared positive words of encouragement when they were down, and they would initiate going for a drama or a music concert at the AmphiTheatre in Obafemi Awolowo University.
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