Muhammad Shamsudeen Umar is passionate about sharing his knowledge. He wants to make a change and he is doing that by providing free computer classes to students of Kadaure community in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State. He is also inspiring others to contribute their quota no matter how little to their communities.
A graduate of Computer Science from the Federal University Gusau, Zamfara State, Umar is passionate about impacting the lives of young boys and girls. Using his personal computer, he provides free computer classes to students of Guidance Foundation College in Kaduna; a school without a computer.
He has so far taught over 30 students how to operate the computer and expressed pride that some of his students can now design calendars and other items; a skill he believes will create jobs and other opportunities for them.
"I believe in the power of technology to transform lives," he told Daily Trust, adding that: "Technology is ruling all over the world and there are good opportunities in the field."
But that is not all, as an undergraduate, Umar built a follow-me-robot to ease the mobility of individuals, especially the physically challenged in their day-to-day lives. Though the first design was a prototype, he says he has plans to develop a bigger robot which will have an attached container to carry loads as well as input a sensor for voice output.
Still, as an undergraduate, he started to develop a medical time alert application system to alert patients when it's time to take their drugs and also their next doctor's appointment. He also came up with a QR bar scanner which, when completed, will allow users to make payments by scanning the code on various items.
"My father has been my strongest pillar," he said, and explained that, "I would not be where I am today if not for him. The second person is my school project coordinator who coached me into developing the app.
"While I was an undergraduate at the Federal University Gusau, I developed the follow-me-robot, the medical time alert applications as well as the QR bar reader. It was something I used for my project defence but I have plans to improve on them so that the general public can benefit from them," he said.
For Muhammad Umar, his passion to make a change and inspire other members of his immediate community stems from the economic challenges faced by people of low economic background in the country.
He said that pushed him to begin strategising on how to contribute his knowledge and at the same time empower young students of primary and secondary schools. "This is to ensure that they have the requisite skills to make themselves self-sufficient, so that upon graduating, they have skills to stand on their own and be self-reliant," he said.
He said following his conviction, he approached the head teacher of a school in his community and offered to coach the children in computer lessons, and since the school had no computer, he offered to use his personal laptop.
He said the idea came to him sometime in 2021 when the world was recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic that disrupted social and economic life as well as imposed new life changes. "Seeing how the youths were sitting ideal at home doing nothing, I decided to come up with opportunities for people to acquire skills from the comfort of their homes, skills that will be beneficial to them," he said.
Umar hopes to establish an academy for technology in the future where people can come from different parts of the country to acquire technological skills.
The assistant director and head teacher of the school where Umar tutors, Ibrahim Muhammad Saleh, has nothing but praise for Muhammad Umar who, he said, has made immense contributions to the pupils and students of the school.
"I was reluctant when Muhammad approached me some three years ago wanting to teach the students computer free of charge. But I must say I have not regretted my decision ever since because he has taught the students and they can now type and operate computers. In fact, some of them can design calendars," he said.
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Saleh said for a community school that started 30 years ago in Malali before moving to Kadaure community seven years ago to provide both Islamic and western education to orphans and the less privileged, Umar had turned around the fortunes of many of the students he interacted with.
Some SS3 students of the school who spoke to our correspondent said Mallam Umar has exposed them to the world of technology. Yene Bitrus said, "I have learnt so much about the computer from teacher Muhammad and I can proudly say I can type and I can comfortably use the computer system."
Expressing similar sentiments, Ahmad Abubakar, an SS3 student said, he can now operate a computer and is knowledgeable on MS Word and other applications.
