Lagos Gets Digital Village

In an event that had all the colour of a political rally, Lagos State Governor formally launched its first Digital Village. The Digital Village consists of a cybercafe with 45 PCs and two training rooms with 8 Internet-enabled PCs in each. The cybercafe is a government-financed project costing about N40 million. Microsoft provided the training facilities costing the computer giant about N14 million.

It is envisaged that the Digital Village would provide first hand IT training for a teeming number of youths in the bustling city of Lagos. It is designed to provide young people including students and the entire community easy and cheap access to a full range of ICT-based facilities and services. The facility is to be managed by the Junior Achievers, a non-government organisation focusing on IT skill development for young people.

Village Tour

The Digital Village located inside Oyingbo, Ebutte Metta results from partnership of the state government, Lagos Mainland local government, and Microsoft. It is fashioned along a similar scheme in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Digital Village is housed inside the secretariat of the Lagos Mainland local government. It is a fully air-conditioned village which has capacity for 70 users at a time working with Pentium IV PCs all indigenously assembled by Omatek Computers, Zinox Technologies and Beta Computers. Aside the cybercafe and training rooms, the village has a meeting room with video conference facilities, library, manager’s office, reception and 6 rest rooms.

Politics of D-Village

Oyingbo is inside the heart of Lagos Mainland. It is one of the earliest developed parts of old Lagos with a vibrant social life and easily charged political atmosphere. The Digital Village would guarantees a major political point for Governor Tinubu, who is very popular here and his AD Party, which political influence in the five states of the south west suffered a major blow at about this time last year when guber elections were conducted. The PDP won the five states. Only Lagos survived under Tinubu’s firm grip. At the launch of the Digital Village, these political experiences were strongly expressed with speakers after speakers condemning the central government.

Anger at D-Village

On a day, when the pump price of petroleum had increased by over 30 per cent, the governor got a rousing ‘thunder clap’ from his audience. “We will send an email to Obasanjo from what our governor has given us today.  Obasanjo is suffering us too much. If somebody cannot rule, he should allow those that can do the job to it,” an old lady in the neighbourhood who was at the event said in Yoruba. Yoruba is the language of the south west

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