Stop and ask yourself again.
By: Barakat Bidemi
Tags: Innovation In Education, Opportunity, GIS, Student Goal, Education Technology

For some weeks now, questions about my dream and future ambition keep popping up at every organizations or companies I go to, in search of an industrial training placement. All this time, I began drowning myself in thoughts about what I really want to do and I am excited, to pen down my vision for a better world, which aspect I want to work on and what I want to achieve.

At least this is what I feel like at the moment and hope it would be a guide for my career, each time I reread.

I am a 400 level student, at Obafemi Awolowo University, studying Urban and Regional Planning. Although, Urban and Regional Planning was never my plan to begin with, I always wanted to become a Medical Doctor, because everyone told me I don’t get scared of blood. I applied for Microbiology at Obafemi Awolowo University, to avoid the high competitiveness of Medicine and Surgery, in terms of Admission. Surprisingly, I was offered admission to study Urban and Regional Planning instead. My dad encouraged me and at this time. I had no better admission offer, and considering the fact that my peers were already in Tertiary Institution. I agreed.

Whilst at the University, I started building skills and engaging in social activities that were directed towards leadership, environmental actions, community development and branding. I had a lot of things going on at every point, creating opportunities for youths, that I was almost everywhere. As time goes on, I realized I need to structure my career goal and get the right perspective of my dream. In March 2018, I got a placement for my first industry training at the Nigerian Defence Academy, Department of Geography, Remote Sensing and Cartography Laboratory. During this period, I learnt Geography Information Software (GIS) and Digital Mapping. They have the facility and technology, and it was at my disposal. It made me appreciate my course of study and I realized there’s so much I can do to help humanity, with the use of this yet to be tapped technology in Nigeria.

GIS is a tool which helps provide real time information about community interactions, business analysis, physical development, environmental condition, social economic characteristics and other geographical data-based information. The creation of GIS software, through the use of thematic map coloring, geographic patterns are visualize, that may not otherwise be seen in the raw data. Hence, developmental decisions and policies of the future will be data driven. I am prompted to further my studies in this area, and become an expert in geospatial analysis and technology. Learn from companies like Esri, to develop the needed skills and technical know-how to drive the change and impact, in Nigeria.

I want to use my skills set (project management, planning and networking, softwares proficiency), coupled with my academic experience, to create a sustainable enterprise, which would be driven by both experience and scientific knowledge. I hope to build an enterprise that will transform Nigeria’s local systems, creating real time analysis and consultation services and at the same time empower Nigeria’s government system, especially education. Most of Nigeria’s tertiary institutions are not equipped with this expertise and cannot transfer the knowledge of such to students. (As i only got the chance to know more about this, when I was at the Nigerian Defence Academy) Unlike other, I was privileged to learn this in indepth, because of my short stint at Nigerian Defense Academy.