A Tech Expert and Chief Executive Officer, Start Innovation Hub (SIH), Mr Hanson Johnson, has kicked against the labelling of young tech talents as criminals by security agencies without proper investigation.
Johnson, who spoke in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital on Monday, described the constant harassment and arrest of these young tech-savvy individuals, he referred to as ‘Tech Bros’and ‘Tech Sis’ by security operatives as a case of “mistaken identity.”
He regretted that the society at large and many security operatives have failed to recognize the legitimate work the young professionals were doing, and often mistake their success for illicit activities, leading to harassment and unjust treatment.
His words, “Before now, wealth was seen as something you attain only after a certain age. Today, information is everywhere, and young people are using it to improve their lives.
‘’There are more intelligent ways to fish out bad people. You don’t have to harass someone and jail the person and then later you now apologise, ‘oh sorry, we thought you were this kind of person.
“We see that even when you have proved beyond every reasonable doubt that you are not one of those people, they still harass you and extort from you”
Johnson stressed that there was a need to educate security personnel on how they should conduct their duties based on intelligence and not on suspicion, noting that the fact that few bad eggs misuse the access was not an excuse to label all tech-savvy youths as criminals.
“Security personnel should be able to distinguish between those who are genuinely contributing to the tech industry and those who are not So education, not just on the part of the young people alone, but also for the security operatives who will also help solve this problem’’ , Johnson asserted.
Additionally, he disclosed that SIH has partnered international organisations, the Federal Government and other corporate entities to train young Nigerians on tech related skill, noting, “Some of the partnership of SIH with the Federal Government include Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills (IDEAS) project, and 3 Million Technical Talent Program (3MTT).”
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