Former president of the Nigerian Publishers Association, Mr. Gbenro Adegbola, on Thursday, lamented that poor development of digital infrastructure constitutes a wide digital divide between Nigeria and the rest of the world.
Adegbola, who is the Chief Executive Officer of 1st Veritas Educational Contents Delivery Limited, stated that the delivery of digital education was not as complex and delicate as viewed by many.
He spoke while delivering a keynote address titled, ‘E-Publishing and the challenges of the digital divide in a developing country like Nigeria,’ at a seminar on E-publishing, at the Nigeria International Book Fair 2021, held at the Harbour Point Event Center, Victoria Island, Lagos.
He described digital revolution as a phenomenon that was already gaining momentum, saying that the public should adopt it for necessary change.
Adegbola said, ‘’As a general observation, it would seem that education and education delivery is far too delicate and, therefore, so conservative and resistant to the digital revolution. Probably not, because by its very nature, nothing can stop a revolution that is already gaining momentum.
“Things exist as they simply are, and not necessarily the way we think they exist. They will not change for us, so we have to be sufficiently adaptable and ready to discard and reassess pre-conceived notions.’’
He urged educational psychologists to come up with plans that would engender development via education technology.
He further stated, ‘’It would seem (that) people have been socialised into the need for some type of focused group environment that can motivate learners for positive engagement. This could be a worthwhile study area for our educational psychologists to focus on and draw out information and observation notes that will be of great help to the Ed-tech world.
‘’The development of digital infrastructure is still relatively poor when looked at against even smaller countries as Togo. I believe it is well known that this, essentially, is what constitutes the digital divide between us and the rest of the developed world.
‘’Revolutions, by their very nature, are extremely disruptive phenomena. The digital revolution has disrupted just about every other industry. From banking, to housing, commerce, even gaming and betting. Many industries that seem not to have felt the full measure of its disruption are merely deploying regulatory barriers to stave off the full effects of disruption on their industry. The educational world cannot be an exception.’’
He, therefore, urged policy makers in the country to take into cognisance, the current reality for the required transformation of the economy.
Among the dignitaries that were present at the event are, Mrs. Folashade Omo-Eboh, MD/CEO of West African Books Publishers Limited and Chief Uchenna Cyril Anioke, President/Chairman-in-Council, NPA.
