Mr. Kola King
Mr.
Kola King is the Chief Executive Officer of thegiantsnetwork.com, a
social networking site. He spoke with TEMITAYO FAMUTIMI about the
opportunities and challenges in the ICT industry.
What is your view on the state of IT infrastructure in schools?
Government at all levels has more to do
in terms of ensuring that our educational institutions, right from the
primary level to tertiary schools, are equipped with basic IT
infrastructure. Governments need to encourage the younger generation to
take interests in ICT as a means to achieving technological advancement.
In this case, the right policies need to be put in place. This should
take the form of the provision of well-equipped computer laboratories in
schools from the elementary level; providing students with access to
Internet in our schools as well as giving incentive in form of
scholarships to pupils who show aptitude towards IT courses. Also,
instructors with relevant IT knowledge need to be manning such labs.
Educational experiences in schools should be IT-inclined and teachers
who don’t have flair for the new media world should be made to undergo
training and retraining on the job as there is always a room for them to
improve on their knowledge.
What opportunities do you think abound on the Internet for youths?
The Internet has the capability of
creating a lot of business opportunities for the teeming number of
unemployed youths. Youths should, as a matter of fact, take advantage of
the opportunities inherent in the various social media platforms to
network and unlock the business potential. There is a lot of valuable
information on the Internet that can help one to excel in one’s chosen
life endeavours.
What is thegiantsnetwork.com all about?
Thegiantsnetwork.com is an online social
and business network and a one-stop shop where you can sign-up and meet
friends and get connected with business associates, life coaches among
others from different walks of life. The passion stems from the fact
that social media is not only about making friends or connecting family
and friends but a platform where one can network and transact serious
business.
How is thegiantsnetwork.com different from other popular social networking sites?
It is a combination of major features of
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and a host of other social
networks. For instance, if you are facing one life challenge or the
other, you can come online and meet with a life coach where you can get
personal, professional, social and even relationship counselling.
Besides, you can listen and download music, play games, with a whole lot
of other features available on the platform. And it is free to sign-up
and get registered as a member of the platform.
What motivated you to start this project?
I bagged a first degree in 2002 in Civil
Engineering at the University of Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State now Ekiti State
University. After my tour of Singapore and Indonesia, some years back, I
got challenged seeing what some technology companies were doing over
there.
Then, I started writing programmes for
the website. This was some 18 months ago and I began some technical
collaboration with people on the project.
How did you go about your web hosting?
We approached an American company for
the web hosting and this is because the local firms here in Nigeria
can’t be trusted to provide a 24-7 uptime for the site due to the
worsening electricity situation. The level of technical know-how at the
local firms is also a cause of worry.
What has been your greatest challenge with thegiantsnetwork.com?
The major problem has been with the
issue of power supply and it has been a challenge since I started
writing the programmes. The worsening power situation goes a long way in
discouraging many youths who wish to pursue an ICT-related career. As
more people get direct and indirect job opportunities via the Internet
and its allied networks, there is a need for government to take the task
of putting an end to epileptic power supply more seriously.
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