Lagos moves to bridge knowledge gap with digital library

For millions of Nigerians seeking to acquire knowledge and qualitative education, the new Lagos digital library (www.educatelagos.com) provides a useful platform.

The online learning portal unveiled by the state government is equipped with volumes of educational materials and can be accessed free of charge with internet enabled electronic devices including computers and mobile phones.

The platform is loaded with materials for primary and secondary, as well as research materials for tertiary institutions and they are to be updated on weekly basis.

At the launch of the online library last week, Akinwunmi Ambode, Governor of Lagos state, represented by Tunji Bello, the secretary to the state government, said the initiative was part of the vision to provide unhindered access to education.

According to him, apart from complementing the quest for achieving Lagos dream of becoming Africa’s model megacity, the online library will also help in transforming the state to a global economic and financial Hub.

“The digital library will provide a repository of contents which include 2,000 study aids on core subjects from primary to senior secondary school curriculum, over 1,600 tutorials, instructional videos and selected e-books for primary to SS3 approved texts, brief history of Lagos State, online forum, podcasts and exam-mate (A Test Resource).

“The contents also include quality research papers from Lagos State Tertiary Institutions covering a wide variety of topics digitized for the platform in various forms such as vocational videos, entrepreneurship contents, creatively presented history lessons and online courses on coding.

“This portal will be accessible via internet connection on a range of devices, from desktop computers to feature phones regardless of location, age or social economic status,” he said.          

He added that as part of the government’s efforts to make the Lagos the next technology hub in Africa, the ‘Code Lagos’ and ‘Digital Library’ have been initiated as first of their kind in the state and one of the largest learning platforms in Africa. 

According to Ambode, with Africa expected to reach 500 million internet users by 2020, majority of whom will access internet through a mobile device, students, researchers and everyone interested in knowledge acquisition now have the opportunity to make use of the platform from any part of the country.

Obafela Bank-Olemoh, the special adviser to the governor on education, said part of the innovation by the state to boost learning was the introduction of “library initiative” whereby private organisations can adopt a library and improve it.

According to him, the initiative is already yielding fruits with the libraries at Herbert Macaulay, Yaba and Isolo already taken up by corporate organisations.

The representative of the Governor later logged on to the “www.educatelagos.com” portal to formally unveil the programme at the event which also attracted members of the organised private sector and the diplomatic corps.

JOSHUA BASSEY