" ITREALMS: I4J is novel – NITTA organisers

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

I4J is novel – NITTA organisers

The organisers of the Nigeria Information Technology and Telecom Awards (NITTA-07) have described the Internet-for-Job (I4J) initiative of the Nigeria Internet Group (NIG) as a novel.

The organisers of NITTA-07, which is in its sixth year, IT & Telecom Digest stated in the citation of NIG president, Mr. Lanre Ajayi as the Information Technology (IT) Personality of the Year 2007, that the I4J initiative, was borne out of genuine concern over the usage of the Internet among Nigerian youths and was aimed at encouraging the use of Internet as a platform for job creation.

NITTA organisers also noted that while commendations poured in for this initiative, the man who has exhibited a consistency in character in the last nearly two decades sees this laudable move as the start of a revolution in the use of the Internet.

They pointed out that as the co-founder of NIG in 1995, and an electrical engineer, Mr. Ajayi, has so much going for him, mostly in a little over a year of his tenure as NIG president, adding that he had accomplished more than any of his predecessors, even as it would not be a surprise for those who know him.

Recently, concerned with the use Nigerian youths have put the Internet, Ajayi established the novel Internet for Jobs (I4J) initiative aimed at promoting the Internet as a platform for job creation,» the citation read, just as commendations are pouring in for this initiative, while the man behind it all has maintained consistency in character in the last nearly two decades, thus he sees this laudable move as the start of a revolution in the use of the Internet.

As said by the organisers, Ajayi has exhibited the same passion into every of his activities, encompassing his days at the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL), which lasted for 11 years, stressing that as a core member of NITEL’s Research and Development team, he has associated with a number of designs and devices which became the first set of patents held by NITEL, even as he remained the designer of the External Line Plant Monitoring Device; the anti-cable theft device, which was a response to the national menace of vandalisation of telecommunication cables.

In addition, Mr. Ajayi was quoted in the citation as a key player in the team that developed a Nigerian Digital Exchange known as ‘the Eagle project’ at a laboratory in the world famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States of America in 1990.

Mr. Ajayi’s leadership qualities could easily discovered, especially as seen in his contributions to the ISP Association of Nigeria (ISPAN) as the Vice-President and Vice-Chairman of African ISP Association (AfrISPA), just as he had served on the council of the Nigerian Computer Society (NCS) as the Chairman of Research and Statistics committee, Chairman of NIG Technical committee on the Nigeria Country code (.ng) Top level domain name. He was also the Chairman of ISPAN committee on the implementation of the Nigeria Internet Exchange Point (NIXP) to name a few. Married with children, Mr. Ajayi is NITTA 2007 IT Personality of the Year,» the organizers declared.

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