Federal Government through the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy has placed high demands on academic institutions in the country to come up with quality research and innovation for Nigeria’s economic progress and prosperity.
The Minister Dr. Bosun Tijani gave this charge in his office in Abuja when he received in audience the Vice Chancellor of Veritas University, Reveren father, Professor Hyacinth Ichoku with Management staff for the “Presentation of Africa Innovation Challenge 2023 Award”.
The charge is coming on the heels of Veritas University excellent performance in winning the 3rd Edition of the annual Africa Telecommunication Union (ATU) Africa Innovation Challenge 2023, with the theme “Innovating for Digital Inclusion: Solutions to Bridge the Digital Divide in Africa”.
According to the minister, “You can almost see the direct quality of academic institution to the quality of any nation. “Every nation relies on research and development to be able to progress”.
According to the statement released by the Ministry, Dr Bosun is of the view that no nation in the world can progress without a sound academic or tertiary institution churning out quality and dependable innovations that can add value to its economy.
He said humanity is constantly in search for better ways to do things and improve significantly while believed that improvement can only come through useful research and development from academic institutions who are the sole custodians.
Speaking at the event, the minister disclosed that it is the responsibility of academic institutions to groom and train learners to become innovators that will innovate technical solutions for the country’s future development.
“The way we look at education or curriculum and how we train workforce for the future itself, is fast changing. Not only do we need to raise and groom strong people to be part of the workforce that will lift our nation and help the economy to prosper, we also need to understand that the world demands we have innovators”, he added.
Also, the minister further challenged Nigerian universities on training people who are creators and have the capabilities to solve problems and challenges in the society.
He cited the examples of borders being melting, security crisis within or outside of the country that can affect nation e.g, like covid 19 that emanated from China.
The minister believes that how to address such unprecedented challenges even before they come, can only come from innovation. He mentioned that not just training people, but having those that can drive innovation that will bring about economic development.
He equally mentioned that the country is endowed with rich resources so government need people who are builders, innovators, entrepreneurs that will transform those resources for the greater good of the populace.
Dr. Bosun said that as ministry, “while we encourage the private sector to invest, we need the academic sector to join us on coming with ground breaking research that will ensure that Nigeria is a true leader in the African continent.
The highpoint of the event was the presentation of the sum of $20,000 cash award to Veritas university for winning ATU 2023 Innovation Challenge in Nairobi, Kenya recently.
The minister on behalf of the federal government and the ministry commended Veritas University with a remark that the institution has become a model.
The Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Engr. Faruk Yusuf Yabo also felicitates with the VC and the Management for a show of honour and how the institution represented the nation well.
In his remarks, the Vice Chancellor of Veritas University Reveren Father Professor Hyacinth Ichoku talked about the challenge of getting industrialists and investors in turning those researches into products for commercialization purposes.