“There Is No Substitute For Education” …Inquirer Boss Tells IT Trainees

The Managing Editor of the Inquirer Newspaper Atty Philip N. Wesseh over the weekend urged young people especially trainees of the Code Brain Liberia (CBL) an ICT Institute to take their education seriously as “there is no substitute for education.”“Do not let anybody fool or tell you that education is not important because it is indeed very important; most especially Information Technology in this modern world that we live,” he said.
He made the statement at the YMCA last Friday during the official launch of Code Brain Liberia, an independent startup non-profit ICT driven organization dedicated to building a more just, prosperous, and inclusive Africa by empowering youth through software development. Our effort facilitates the practical application of ICT4Dev to social development challenges.
The Inquirer Boss further stressed that IT is the way forward or undeniable driving force for national development and as such young male and female Liberians should immerse themselves in the study of IT and ICT courses to get on par with the Digital World.
Mr. Wesseh encouraged the audience which was mostly young people to acquire some skills in Technology because it is applicable and very significant to every profession, adding,”it is the fastest way of doing a piece of job an d it safes time, energy and other resources.”
Drawing a vivid picture of how vital IT or ICT is to the world today the Liberian and lawyer with nearly 40 years of practicing and teaching journalism in the country spoke of the challenges that they faced when there were no computers, no digital cameras or smart phones to make their work easy as it is now.
“When we were using type-writers we were forced to keep dictionaries in the newsroom to make sure of the correct spelling of unfamiliar words or definitions because a type-writer does not have spell check, a grammar checks, he told the trainees.
He added that with the introduction of digital cameras, photographers and photos editors no long have to work with dangerous and life threatening chemicals in darkrooms to develop photos; and networking has reduced movements in newsrooms as files and folders are shared from computer to another computer through the network.
Turning to the founders of Code Brain Liberia, a group of young IT professionals who have organized themselves to give free IT training to build the capacity and empower other young people in Technology, the Inquirer Boss said “it is heartwarming to see young people doing what you are starting today, but please stay united, hold together so that this great idea of yours will not die.”
“You will surely face lot of obstacles, some will be disagreements among you, other will be discouragement from other people but they are meant to test your resilience, your patients, your self-control and your reasonableness; if you remain unity you will come up victorious,” he cautioned the veteran professional.
“Run your organization void of politics and never allow yourselves to be bought or used by politicians, he concluded.
On the other hand, Titus Gooding, the Executive Director of the organization urged young people to willing help in building the capacity of each other and put an end to the “me first” mentality.
According to Titus, one of the reasons or factors that are retarding the process and growth of young people or the nation is that young people are not supportive of their colleagues who are innovative but rather do everything to bring them down, noting that it is time to stop such attitude and develop unity for the common good.
Many of those at the launch voiced their admiration for the young Liberian professionals for such a brilliant idea; pouin5tingh out that it is heart touching to see young people undertaking such a huge task just for the love of humanity disregarding the national economic difficulties.
One group that pledged its support is PRO-TECH INC a fully accredited Liberian owned CT Company that is specialized in Software Development, Website Design & Development ICT Consultancy, Corporate Training, Networking and Infrastructure Solutions, Biometric Solutions, Datacenter Solutions, CCTV installations and Management, that pledged two laptops as initial support while also opening their arms wide to receive some of Code Brain students on internship after completing their studies.