PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW THERE IS WHAT IS CALLED DIGITAL FOOTPRINT — EVERY WRONG INFORMATION YOU SEND OUT IN THE DIGITAL SPACE CAN TARNISH YOUR REPUTATION – Dr. Peace Nkire, IT Expert
In this exclusive one-on-one interview with News Emperor Online, Dr. (Mrs.) Peace Nkire, an IT Expert and Instructor, spoke extensively on the dangers of exposing private information online. She also talked about her new book titled *”AI & The 21st Century Mom”*, statingvin the book that Artificial Intelligence is 5th generation computer technology that mimics human characteristics and can perform millions of tasks in split seconds.
Dr. Nkire equally stated that in the digital world of today, which is now a global village, that there are three kinds of citizens: the Digital Aliens, the Digital Immigrants and the Digital Natives or Millennials.
*Excerpt:*
*Q: Tell us who you are, Madam?*
*A:* I am Dr. Peace Nkire.
*Q: Tell us more about your background?*
*A:* I am Dr. Peace Nkire, as I said. I am the Student Coordinator, Nigerian Computer Society Lagos Chapter.
*Q: Tell us more about your educational background?*
*A:* I am Peace Nkire and I am from Akwa Ibom State. I am married to Barr. Damian Nkire, a legal practitioner. I attended St. Mary’s Science College, Ediene Abak, Akwa-Ibom state, a Pure Science school. After that, I attended Lagos State University (LASU). After my LASU education, I joined Professional Education Management International, NIPEM afterward i atttended Highstone Global University. I also did a lot of ICT training with New Horizon. I am equally a Board Member of the Schools Computer Club Initiative (SCCI). It was founded by Dr. Adesina Adewale. Dr. Adesina is the Chairman of the Nigerian Computer Society, Lagos State Chapter of which i am an executive Member. I have a lot of certifications in IT-related areas. After my first degree, I had my Master’s with Highstone Global University. I did my Master’s in Educational Planning and Administration. Presently, I am runing my research work for my PhD at Highstone Global University. I am midway; probably by next year, by God’s grace, I will be done.
*Q: Is this at the national level of the Computer Society or is it at the state level?*
*A:* It is a chapter, that is, the Lagos State Chapter, not national. I am also the Assistant Secretary for the Lagos State Chapter of NCS. We are creating awareness. We are into IT. And you know IT is advancing almost on a daily basis. So we keep students abreast with the recent IT technologies and development. We have a lot to offer in technology-related areas. We are creating awareness because there are initiatives that the youths can join to foster their interest in IT and we also sensitize them with recent trends in IT.
Recently, we are anchoring a competition called IT CHAMPS Competition. It is an acronym for Champions. We formed it just to enrol students from secondary schools and upper primary. To enrol in both junior and senior secondary students, so that they will participate in this competition and win exciting prizes. This is also to encourage and motivate them to go into IT. And you know, IT has to do with innovation. And innovation brings about remarkable changes in society, so that they also help to proffer solutions to the numerous problems facing society. That is what we are targeting, using IT knowledge. It is not just to acquire the knowledge but to provide lasting solutions.
We also have competitions like the Don Etiebet Robotic Prize and the Salako Marven Prize Foundation, where we give out prizes for innovative students. He (Dr. Salako) is a Fellow of the Nigerian Computer Society. He is giving back to the society by encouraging the youth to go into IT and become innovative at the same time rewarding the with fantastic prizes. The Salaco Marven Prizes are only for students of higher institutions. The Salaco Marven Prizes and the Don Etiebet Prizes are for higher institutions. For instance, if you come up with an innovative solution or idea on robotics, any robotic solution, you just apply for it. There are Board Members, panels and judges that scrutinize them. They are the ones to sit over it, look at your project, and see the solution that project can provide in IT-related areas or to society. They give prizes and grants. They can even help you establish your business.
So that they can grow, go out there, train others and solve problems in our society. That is the innovation we are talking about.
*Q: If someone enrols in your NCS, what aspect of IT programmes, like Graphics, Website Development etc. which area can a person focus on?*
*A:* We have areas like Graphics, Website Development, Robotics, Internet ofnEverything, Coding. We also have Blockchain Engineering, Cyber Security, Data Privacy and many other areas of specialisation in our IT training programmes. You need to get a particular area of Interest for specialisation. Computer Science has been unbundled; it is not all about going to school to study Computer Science generally. Be an expert in one particular area.
Q: The duration. I mean how long can one undergo your training?
A: It all depends
*Q: How do you see what is happening today with regards to the HGU Convocation and Research Conference?*
*A:* The university held its convocation and research conference, which is done annually. This is the 9th Convocation and I give kudos to Prof. Maurice Azubuike Odiete, the President NIPEM and Highstone Global University. Because he has been working assiduously and so hard to see to the growth of not just the university but of society, as well as building business. He has been an entrepreneur also. He wants to see the progress of people. He always encourages people in business and he is forming it as a consortium. At the same time partnering with Highstone Global University has brought light to Nigeria in the sense that he is undaunted. He cannot be discouraged by anything. He has broken a lot of barriers. He is the one overseeing the administrative aspect of the university. He was the one that brought the university to Nigeria and looked for like minds and experts in academia. He brought seasoned academic professors and teamed up with them and they are working assidiously to see to the growth of Highstone Global University in Nigeria. And NIPEM, which is a subsidiary of the university, is doing well in the area of health.
*Q: So NIPEM is concerned about health-related fields?*
*A:* It is mostly about health it offers other management programmes.
*Q: And it offers health-related courses at Highstone Global University?*
*A:* Yes, they are offering health-related courses at Highstone Global University too. There is also Highstone Business School too, which is also a subsidiary of Highstone Global University being run by a set of other experts.
*Q: The IT world is fast becoming a global village. What do you want to tell your readers and youths out there?*
*A:* I always tell my audience that I see citizens in three major categories. We have the Digital Aliens, we have the Digital Immigrants and we have the Digital Natives. Those of us that were born before the millennial age, I call us the Digital Immigrants. We are the digital immigrants because we just moved into the digital age. The digital natives are those that are born into it so let’s keep preferring lasting solutions.
*Q: What about the Analogs?*
*A:* The Analogs are those that have nothing to do with digital devices and equipment. They are just there. We call them Technophobes. They don’t want to touch any digital device or equipment at all. Whenever they see any device, they become afraid or irritated. So they are Technophobes. That means they will be left behind and very soon they will become obsolete.
*Q: Then, the ones that are born into it, what are they called?*
*A:* They are called the Natives. It is their world. They are living in it. They work well with it. And you see them doing a lot of things with it.
*Q: What is your word of encouragement for them?*
*A:* They should use it positively. That is always my advice. Because the main idea and motive of computing is to make jobs easier, faster and simpler for humans. So we shouldn’t use it against ourselves; rather we should use it positively and for positive gains.
*Q: Our youths, morality and the digital age or social media’s negative impact. What do you have to say concerning that?*
*A:* That is one of the limitations of the digital world or computer. I always advise parents on that. In fact, I published a book called “AI and the 21st Century Mom.” Parents and educators should control screen time of their children and should be able to scrutinise what they do using screen monitoring Softwares ie is
*Q: You published a book on that?*
*A:* Yes.
*Q: What is the book about?*
*A:* “AI and the 21st Century Mom” is to enlighten our 21st Century mothers on how to manage their children with electronic devices. They shouldn’t let them be carried away. And they should be able to manage their screen time. Also, Nigeria as a country enacted a law in the year 2022 called the Data Privacy and Protection Acts law to help checkmate what is being sent online. These children do not know that there are devices to checkmate criminal and inordinate digital activities.There is a law to checkmate that remember ignorance is not an excuse
*Q: The law enacted by government to enforce this, what do you call it?*
*A:* It is called the Data Privacy and Protection Law 2022. The Data Privacy and Protection Law is to manage indiscriminate sending of information online. There is also what is called Digital Footprint. These children don’t know that whatever they post will remain there for decades at the Data Centre and many people will see it. Tomorrow they might want to travel out of the country or do one thing or the other, it might truncate their good plans Also, their employers might stumble on these things and it doesn’t speak well of them. It can bring down their reputation or tarnish their reputation. They should be careful and mindful of whatever they are sending out in the digital space. Also, giving out a lot of information online is not helpful because of the risk involved.
*Q: Giving out information like what?*
*A:* Giving out private information. Giving out your full names, your house addresses, your real-time location. They are not supposed to do that because going online you are meeting strangers. And they need to be enlightened on social and emotional learning. Let them be able to manage themselves when they are online.
Thank you.