Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State says his administration will convert some skill acquisition centres in the state to Eko Creation Innovation Hubs.
Sanwo-Olu said this on Friday in Ikorodu, during the inauguration of SAIL (Senator Abiru Innovation Lab), an initiative of Sen. Tokunbo Abiru, the senator representing Lagos East Senatorial District at the 9th National Assembly.
He said that converting skill acquisition centres to innovation hubs was part of measures to curtail ‘japa syndrome’, a situation whereby a citizen leaves the country to another, for greener pastures.
According to him, Yaba will be made Tech Campus, as a way of encouraging the youths on digital skills.
The innovation lab which took off in 2021 was designed in collaboration with Co-creation Hub, and would serve as a training centre for youths, teenagers and teachers in and around Ikorodu, free of charge.
The governor said that Abiru’s initiative to better the lots of his constituents was in line with the vision of the state goverment to leverage on technology for the development of the youth.
”I have no doubt that the expectation of the people of Lagos East will be achieved, some of the things that we promised, we have been seeing them in Senator Abiru.
”We, as your goverment, we are to give hope to the hopeless, to give opportunity to those who are depressed. I am excited to see the impact of governance to people.
“The issue for us is to replicate what Senator Abiru has done. Tech is what will leap-frog our youths. Tech is what will give us that advancement, creating global solutions.
”Lagos will continue to remain the tech hub in Africa. Now government is doing a metropolitan fibre mesh. We are creating internet capability that will become easier and faster,” he said.
While stressing on the importance of the lab, Sanwo-Olu said that the youths needed not to ‘japa’, but compete and cut their teeth in Ikorodu.
”We want to make Yaba a tech campus. That is the synergy that you have created in line with our vision. We will be converting some of our skills acquisition centres into Eko Creation Innovation Hubs.
”The concern of this goverment is to leave this place far better than we met it. Abiru is a man that we identify and work with,” the governor said.
In his remark, Sen. Abiru said that the new language of the world was tech.
”All around us, we see how tech is shaping social interactions, disrupting how we live, work and interact with others. Quantum computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IOTs) are now the buzz words in a world that is changing faster than we can adapt to it.
”Since inception, the innovation lab has recorded some significant milestones. Till date, over 490 participants have benefitted from the several programmes, in-person, while over 2,000 have participated in the online programmes.
”In this age where digital skills are high in-demand, the lab will help to bridge the resource-gap. In the coming months and years, we will be offering a range of training programmes in areas such as digital product design, data science, metaverse, etc.,” he said. (NAN)
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