Meet Basil Okpara Jr Is A Nigerian Programmer Who Built More Than 30 Educational

This 9-year-old has built more than 30 mobile games

Lagos, Nigeria(CNN) Seated in a stylish living room of a home in a suburb of Nigeria's commercial center, Lagos, Basil Okpara Jr. is tapping away on his laptop keyboard.

The 9-year-old is building a hide and seek game, using a free programming application called Scratch 2.

Scratch 2 allows users to create games, animations, and stories online or offline. So far, Basil has used it to generate more than 30 mobile games.

Today's game involves a bat he has programmed to hide. The player gets a point every time he catches the bat when it emerges from its hiding place.

"I learned how to build games at a boot camp. Now, I build to keep me busy when I am bored," Basil told CNN.

In March, his father signed him up for a five-day boot camp for children aged 5 to 15.

The camp, organized by Codefest International, was put in place to give children like Basil access to emerging technologies like robotics and virtual reality.

Growing up, Basil used to play a lot of mobile games says his father, Basil Okpara Sr.

"I bought him a tablet when he was 4 years old because I saw that he was always grabbing phones to play games with. He played Candy Crush and Temple Run a lot," the father told CNN.

But Basil's interest in creating his games grew at age 7 after he got scolded for spending all of his time playing.

"There was this day he was on the tablet, as usual, he was so carried away with the game he was playing that I got upset with him," his father said.

"Out of annoyance, I said to him, 'you are always playing games, can't you think about building your own games so others can play yours too?'. I was angry when I said it, and I did not know he took it seriously," he added.

Since then, Basil actively showed interest in learning how to make his own games, prompting his parents to buy him a laptop and register him to learn the first steps of building games.

Basil, who wants to be a scientist in the future, titles his games based on what they are about.

The games are still in their raw form and can currently only be accessed on computers that have Scratch 2 installed.

But according to his father one of them, titled Frog attack, will be available to the public on Google play store in August.

Africa has the largest youth population in the world, and like Basil, this population is taking the lead when it comes to innovation on the continent.

Two Nigerian 12-year-olds were recently celebrated for using codes to build robots to sort out their house chores.

In May, team Acrobot, a Ghanaian all-girls high school team won the 2019 Robofest competition by programming robots to stack boxes.

And with Africa experiencing increased investment from tech giants like Google and Microsoft, Basil and his peers are on their way to becoming future coding stars.

Source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/08/06/africa/9-year-old-built-30-mobile-apps-intl/index.html


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMzwdmvS-Co

Mynd44

Meanwhile his abo-ki agemates are busy rummaging through dustbins for food and begging for 10 Naira change.

This boy is the real celebrity unlike those BBN hoeloshos who fvck their way to the celebrity status.


Basil Okpara? Isn't that an Igbo name? Igbo Amaka!!

BASIL OKPARA

A GENIUS IN THE MAKING




Lagos, Nigeria(CNN) Seated in a stylish living room of a home in a suburb of Nigeria's commercial center, Lagos, Basil Okpara Jr. is tapping away on his laptop keyboard.

The 9-year-old is building a hide and seek game, using a free programming application called Scratch 2.

Scratch 2 allows users to create games, animations, and stories online or offline. So far, Basil has used it to generate more than 30 mobile games.


Today's game involves a bat he has programmed to hide. The player gets a point every time he catches the bat when it emerges from its hiding place.

"I learned how to build games at a boot camp. Now, I build to keep me busy when I am bored," Basil told CNN.

In March, his father signed him up for a five-day boot camp for children aged 5 to 15.


The camp, organized by Codefest International, was put in place to give children like Basil access to emerging technologies like robotics and virtual reality.

Growing up, Basil used to play a lot of mobile games says his father, Basil Okpara Sr.

"I bought him a tablet when he was 4 years old because I saw that he was always grabbing phones to play games with. He played Candy Crush and Temple Run a lot," the father told CNN.

But Basil's interest in creating his games grew at age 7 after he got scolded for spending all of his time playing.

"There was this day he was on the tablet, as usual, he was so carried away with the game he was playing that I got upset with him," his father said.

"Out of annoyance, I said to him, 'you are always playing games, can't you think about building your own games so others can play yours too?'. I was angry when I said it, and I did not know he took it seriously," he added.


Why Tech giants like Google and Microsoft are investing in Africa
Since then, Basil actively showed interest in learning how to make his own games, prompting his parents to buy him a laptop and register him to learn the first steps of building games.

Basil, who wants to be a scientist in the future, titles his games based on what they are about.

The games are still in their raw form and can currently only be accessed on computers that have Scratch 2 installed.


But according to his father one of them, titled Frog attack, will be available to the public on Google play store in August.

Africa has the largest youth population in the world, and like Basil, this population is taking the lead when it comes to innovation on the continent.

Two Nigerian 12-year-olds were recently celebrated for using codes to build robots to sort out their house chores.

In May, team Acrobot, a Ghanaian all-girls high school team won the 2019 Robofest competition by programming robots to stack boxes.

And with Africa experiencing increased investment from tech giants like Google and Microsoft, Basil and his peers are on their way to becoming future coding stars.



https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/08/06/africa/9-year-old-built-30-mobile-apps-intl/index.html

Kingosytex:
This boy is the real celebrity unlike those BBN hoeloshos who fvck their way to the celebrity status.


Basil Okpara? Isn't that an Igbo name? Igbo Amaka!!

I HATE to see comments like this.

It might interest you to know that Basic is more YORUBA, HAUSA or BINI than Igbo just like other Igbo kids born and raised outside the shores of Igbo land who cannot even understand Igbo language not to talk of Igbo culture.

BTW, abum nwafor Igbo.

Okpara has made us proud, imagine the millions wasted on the hoe show BBN is spent on the numerous talents in this country?

Mortiple:
I HATE to see comments like this.

It might interest you to know that Basic is more YORUBA, HAUSA or BINI than Igbo just like other Igbo kids born and raised outside the shores of Igbo land who cannot even understand Igbo language not to talk of Igbo culture.

BTW, abum nwafor Igbo.

You are not nwafó Igbo but EFULEFU. u must be related to Joe Igbokwe. are u saying that my kids Born outside igbo land are less of Igbos than those born in the East. political correctness has made some of reason like dumb ass. Even my relatives here in Ohio are proud of their Igbo heritage and am sure speak and write the language better than u. do u know how much we spend organizing extra classes for the kids to write and speak their mother tongue? u have a complex challenge.

ceejee:


You are not nwafó Igbo but EFULEFU. u must be related to Joe Igbokwe. are u saying that my kids Born outside igbo land are less of Igbos than those born in the East. political correctness has made some of reason like dumb ass. Even my relatives here in Ohio are proud of their Igbo heritage and am sure speak and write the language better than u. do u know how much we spend organizing extra classes for the kids to write and speak their mother tongue? u have a complex challenge.

.

You can twist and misinterpret my post, for all I care.

Also, your attempt to whip up sentiment in your favour is childish. What has my remark got to do with "political correctness" and "complex challenge"... you iediot?

I am shell shocked that the one who claim to "live in Ohio" where ethnocentrism, tribalism and racism is totally discouraged is here supporting the same. I am not in doubt that you are one of those embarrassing Nigeria and Africa over there.

FYI, I do not only speak Igbo fluently, I write same too. Needless to add that I am a community leader who occupy various leadership positions in my town union, village meeting, clan and kindred meetings, Obviously, I am not your type.

Since you want to take a bullet for another... May the combined force of Agwu and Amadioha visit you!!!

Mortiple:
.

You can twist and misinterpret my post, for all I care.

Also, your attempt to whip up sentiment in your favour is childish. What has my remark got to do with "political correctness" and "complex challenge"... you iediot?

I am shell shocked that the one who claim to "live in Ohio" where ethnocentrism, tribalism and racism is totally discouraged is here supporting the same. I am not in doubt that you are one of those embarrassing Nigeria and Africa over there.

FYI, I do not only speak Igbo fluently, I write same too. Needless to add that I am a community leader who occupy various leadership positions in my town union, village meeting, clan and kindred meetings, Obviously, I am not your type.

Since you want to take a bullet for another... May the combined force of Agwu and Amadioha visit you!!!

if the state "is he not Igbo?Igbo Amaka " made you to vomit that dumb statement that the guy is more of yoruba than igbo bcoz he stays in Lagos Nigeria, it shogroupws u have a complex problem. the statement on its own did not attack any ethnic group it rather extolled the programmer's ethnic group. it that what u call bigotry? if indeed ur a community leader then it must be a community of fools. As for ur amadioha and agwu , I live above those powerless things. Nitwit. less I forget, what is the name of ur community?

ceejee:


if the state "is he not Igbo?Igbo Amaka " made you to vomit that dumb statement that the guy is more of yoruba than igbo bcoz he stays in Lagos Nigeria, it shogroupws u have a complex problem. the statement on its own did not attack any ethnic group it rather extolled the programmer's ethnic group. it that what u call bigotry? if indeed ur a community leader then it must be a community of fools. As for ur amadioha and agwu , I live above those powerless things. Nitwit. less I forget, what is the name of ur community?

Why wasting time on dat mf? Forget about the efulefu

I can see somebody above with a low self-esteem shouting "amaka". Disgusting. I wonder what this kind of comment brings into their pocket, and that also goes to the yorubas that shout "Yoruba akamu" .
Can we just praise this young lad without connecting his intelligence to tribe, because Efik, Igala, Edo, Hausa children are doing similar things too.

Daviddson:
I can see somebody above with a low self-esteem shouting "amaka". Disgusting. I wonder what this kind of comment brings into their pocket, and that also goes to the yorubas that shout "Yoruba akamu" .
Can we just praise this young lad without connecting his intelligence to tribe, because Efik, Igala, Edo, Hausa children are doing similar things too.

oga igbo amaka!! if you no like am go take a chilled snipper!

I can sue with Ogun that guy not know Ghana not to talk of Ohio. In fact with the way he sound it Seems the guy still living under the roof of his father in the village.

Mortiple:
.

You can twist and misinterpret my post, for all I care.

Also, your attempt to whip up sentiment in your favour is childish. What has my remark got to do with "political correctness" and "complex challenge"... you iediot?

I am shell shocked that the one who claim to "live in Ohio" where ethnocentrism, tribalism and racism is totally discouraged is here supporting the same. I am not in doubt that you are one of those embarrassing Nigeria and Africa over there.

FYI, I do not only speak Igbo fluently, I write same too. Needless to add that I am a community leader who occupy various leadership positions in my town union, village meeting, clan and kindred meetings, Obviously, I am not your type.

Since you want to take a bullet for another... May the combined force of Agwu and Amadioha visit you!!!

You should be ashamed of yourself There's nothing to be proud of being igbo . Many of friends don't want to be address as igbo

timecapsule:
IGBO AMAKA.
Am proud of my tribe. Let other show their own.

But if my remark pains you, there is TRANSFOMER close to you to hug.

The bright of the sun cannot be hidden

ceejee:


if the state "is he not Igbo?Igbo Amaka " made you to vomit that dumb statement that the guy is more of yoruba than igbo bcoz he stays in Lagos Nigeria, it shogroupws u have a complex problem. the statement on its own did not attack any ethnic group it rather extolled the programmer's ethnic group. it that what u call bigotry? if indeed ur a community leader then it must be a community of fools. As for ur amadioha and agwu , I live above those powerless things. Nitwit. less I forget, what is the name of ur community?

The guy is a bloody afonja. You have time.

Daviddson:
I can see somebody above with a low self-esteem shouting "amaka". Disgusting. I wonder what this kind of comment brings into their pocket, and that also goes to the yorubas that shout "Yoruba akamu" .
Can we just praise this young lad without connecting his intelligence to tribe, because Efik, Igala, Edo, Hausa children are doing similar things too.

Igbo Amaka.

johnmartus:
You should be ashamed of yourself There's nothing to be proud of being igbo . Many of friends don't want to be address as igbo

Igbo Amaka.
You can put that bullet through your skull now.
Rubbish.

Mortiple:
I HATE to see comments like this.

It might interest you to know that Basic is more YORUBA, HAUSA or BINI than Igbo just like other Igbo kids born and raised outside the shores of Igbo land who cannot even understand Igbo language not to talk of Igbo culture.

BTW, abum nwafor Igbo.

Who cares nwafor....we are talking genes .. he is igbo

I was born outside igbo land and I am too igbotic


Zuzuwa

johnmartus:
You should be ashamed of yourself There's nothing to be proud of being igbo . Many of friends don't want to be address as igbo

Heartbroken...they want to be addressed as Yoruba ? A tribe known for many things that is so woke

Mortiple:
.

You can twist and misinterpret my post, for all I care.

Also, your attempt to whip up sentiment in your favour is childish. What has my remark got to do with "political correctness" and "complex challenge"... you iediot?

I am shell shocked that the one who claim to "live in Ohio" where ethnocentrism, tribalism and racism is totally discouraged is here supporting the same. I am not in doubt that you are one of those embarrassing Nigeria and Africa over there.

FYI, I do not only speak Igbo fluently, I write same too. Needless to add that I am a community leader who occupy various leadership positions in my town union, village meeting, clan and kindred meetings, Obviously, I am not your type.

Since you want to take a bullet for another... May the combined force of Agwu and Amadioha visit you!!!

Igbo is awesome ...we are igbo we don't forget hones

I would recommend sniper; it works wonders try it

If you're an IGBO & you belong to one of those that don't like to be address as an IGBO.
MY ADVICE FOR YOU.
look for trailer with full load that is on a high speed and jump in front of it.

Your kind is our problem.
Enwe

johnmartus:
You should be ashamed of yourself There's nothing to be proud of being igbo . Many of friends don't want to be address as igbo

Igbo Amaka nwanne.

Good

Thumbs up to the original WIZKID!

This boy might do better as a minister than those that where elected


Meanwhile where is that suya idiot, he should gimme suya 10k and bill it on his dullard of a master.

talent