Later this month, Lagos state government, with the support of PricewaterhouseCoopers, SystemSpecs, Etisalat, Oando Foundation and Oracle Academy, will be training one million residents on computer programming as part of the CodeLagos initiative.

Coding centres are scheduled to be rolled out across 350 public and private schools, and libraries, across the tate according to Obafela Bank-Olemoh, Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Education.

Bank-Olemoh said the CodeLagos Programme would not only make the State a technology hub, but also empower locals with the opportunity to become self-employed.

In preparation for the initiative, the state has already kick-started a three-day training session for CodeLagos Master Trainers.

He revealed that the training of Master Trainers would equip 100 trainees with the knowledge and skills to teach after-school coding classes for the CodeLagos programme.

"These Master trainers will go on to train over 1,000 CodeLagos facilitators who will eventually be deployed to different coding centres across the State. In this way, CodeLagos will create employment and business opportunities for Lagosians in the technology sector."

He added that CodeLagos is in line with the vision of the state government to position Lagos as the technology frontier in Africa.

"If you look at India, people run to India for technology, it's because they did a programme like this. Now if people want to set up an IT company they go to India, because they have this process. So we are trying to do the same in Lagos such that if anyone wants to set up an IT company, they will come to Lagos," Bank-Olemoh said.

Deremi Atanda, Executive Director of SystemSpecs Limited, said the greatest asset of Lagos state is the growing youth population. "The choice to empower them is the wisest decision the State has made, laying a good foundation for the emerging knowledge economy. We are convinced that CodeLagos would do just that."