YZ Yau elected ITAN Secretary General

The National Executive Council of the Information Technology Association of Nigeria (ITAN) has announced the election of Mr. Y. Z. Ya'u of Cybertec Venture Limited (CVL) as its new Secretary General. The council election of Mr Yau was unanimous. Mr Ya'u will overlook the secretariat of the association for the next two years.

Yunusa Zakari Ya’u, was born in 1960 in Katagum Local Government of Bauchi State. He attended Government Secondary School, Azare before enrolling at Bayero University Kano where he studied Electrical Engineering. He later went to ABU to read Telecommunications. He was also a guest researcher in 2002, 2003 and 2006 at the Department of Political Science, Stockholm University, Sweden.

He started lecturing from 1984 at BUK until 1999 when he resigned to join AITEC (UK) as an ICT consultant. Since then he has been working as Chief Executive Officer of Cybertec Venture Limited (CVL), Kano and is the founder of the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), a non-governmental organization focussing on the promotion of ICT for development based in Kano. He was the founding Secretary of the Kano Branch of the Information Technology Association of Nigeria (ITAN). He is also the Chairman, Grassroots Empowerment Committee of the Nigeria Internet Group (NIG) and a member of the Board of Trustees of Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA).

He has served as a member of the NuNet Committee, Bayero University, Kano, Kano State ICT Policy Drafting Committee, Committee for the Establishment of the Ado Bayero Computer College, Consultant for the establishment of the Kano State ICT Park and to several other organizations such as the CODESRIA, MacArthur Foundation, the Centre for Research and Documentation, among others.

He has authored/edited eight books and 20 contributed chapters to several others and journal articles. As a writer he has run many columns on IT and currently is a columnist with the Daily Independent newspaper.

The driving force of the information age is the composite stream of applied technologies (Information and Communications) known as Information Technology (IT). It is the engine of modern civilization. The higher a nation or people are in IT pedestal, the more developed the people are in terms of wealth, living standard, know-how and dominance of the world within and without.

- Jimson Olufuye