Meet Katsina-Based “Creative Meastro” Tackling Nigeria’s Unemployment, Social Crisis With Digital Solutions
By Mohammed Dahiru-Lawal
TECHDIGEST – Years ago, when Babangida Ruma told his friends that he envisages an internet that is “free for all,” they laughed him off, flagrantly waving off the “impossibility” of his “folly” before his eyes, but the 2013 Global Ambassador of the Commonwealth Youth Council was not one to be deterred as he rolled his visions into motion, years later, the self-styled “creative maestro” boasts of an ‘assorted’ array of digital platforms tackling Nigeria’s social problems one at a time.
“At the time, they were looking at it from the angle of internet and data purchasing power, but i was looking at it beyond that, I was looking at accessible internet that gives back economic and financial strength to teeming young people out there while solving unemployment and other social challenges,” Ruma reminisced gleefully.
Ruma, the Katsina-based founder of Opportunities Hub – a platform aimed at impacting the lives of young people and making them attain greater heights by making great Opportunities available and accessible to them, told Tech Digest that his vision for social solution through digital technology is not only wild but one that is far reaching.
“You see, I am on a mission to transform one billion lives,” Ruma boasts as he explains further, “I paid my way through studies in Malaysia, it was afterwards I realised that I could get a scholarship to study anywhere in the world, but the information deficit has deprived me of the opportunity, so that’s why I conceived and founded the Opportunity Hub, one of the biggest online opportunities platform that bridges the information gap between opportunities providers and opportunity seekers,” he said.
According to Ruma, the ideas keep flowing when he looks at unemployment and other social issues bedevilling the country.
“So, we thought about what we can use to support young people and get them empowered and technology was the answer, so we developed DigiTopUp – aimed at creating 100,000 jobs before the end of 2022. The model is simple and one that can be started with zero capital.
According to Ruma, DigiTopUp involves selling data to clients at NGN250 per gigabyte which they can in turn sell at NGN300 per gigabyte and make NGN50 profit.
“So in a day, at the comfort of your home you can make upto NGN1000 if you sell to about 20 people. We have a client who make upto NGN80,000 in a month with this initiative
“Without capital you can advertise to a potential customer, they pay you, you purchase and send the data to them and keep your profit. Infact we can put upto NGN10,000 in a clients wallet if they don’t have money to start and it’s a win win,” Ruma who said the platform now have over 5,000 subscribers explained.
Going down the impact of the initiative, he buttressed, “I attended a conference in China in early 2015 on early marriages in Africa. There i got the idea that poverty is part of what kills marraige. So we are saving marriages with our DigiTopUp as well, I have housewives making up to NGN10,000 with it and they are now living in peace with their husbands.”
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Ruma, who has won several awards and global recognition said that’s not the only initiative and solutions he is providing for young Nigerians and Africans.
“Right now, we are implementing four great and impactful projects one of which is our E-commerce solutions with a WhatsApp status model. Its an online store that digitises local businesses and create online visibility using the model of a WhatsApp status to prompt potential customers for transaction,” Ruma explained.
Named as father for technology and innovation by UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education for his work in using technology to impact communities and lives with sustainable digital solutions, the young visionary who holds a first degree in Information Technology from Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, Malaysia and a Honorary Doctorate Degree from the Commonwealth University England for creativity and innovation recently debuted a skills bank where artisans and skilled graduate and network and access or sell services.
“Whether you are a plumber, graphics designer or an unemployed skilled graduate, all you need to do is simply create a profile on skillsbank and sell yourself for people to access what you have to offer,” Ruma explained, arguing that it is the worlds frisk skills market which operates like a job bank.
“The good thing is that we also have a digital skills online platform for premium mode certification programs so those who want to be plumbers, mechanics etc and sell their services on skillsbank bank get certified skills,” he enthused.
In using this initiative to tackle unemployment by teeming youths, Ruma says he is in the process of signing a skills employability and development Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with major Nigerian universities.
“Graduate and undergraduates of these universities can simply go to our digital clinics, get online certifiactions, go to our e-commerce and sell their skills so while graduating they know that they can turn what they studied or learnt into money…even if you read english you can be a translator for companies,” he expatiated.
Though Ruma alludes that it has not been all rosy, the success stories of his initiatives keep him going.
“We have mentored Youths through winning applications in scholarships, fellowships and other opportunities, we mobilised over a 100,000 young people with our platform to apply for and access social initiatives of the government like N-power, loans and grants among others,” he said.
With the digital space fraught with issues of fake news, Ruma will not be left behind in the war against disinformation.
“We developed “Nigeria reports” for that purpose and we equally go all out in promoting local talent and creativity,” he explains.
That’s not the end of it, the man who was named 100 most influential young African for 2016 and 2020 and was also ranked among the top 20 most influential young leader in the world 2016 said his new idea “Doctors on Call,” is set to debut.
“This will eliminate the need for long ques at hospitals. We would have a community of Doctors on call on the app, users can simply subscribe with a token monthly fee which they can use to access medical consultancy services any time any day. We have also collaborated with hospitals and health centers Incase patients need to be admitted, there would be an ambulance to pick them up and a facility to take them in,” he said.
Ruma who said this will be the biggest Dr on Call in the country, expressed optimism that his digital solutions initiatives powered by technology will solve Nigeria’s social problem one at a time.
