Young Innovators in Plateau State have appealed to government at all levels to support them in actualizing their dreams of expanding their products.
They made the appeal in an interaction with our correspondent at a Stakeholders Engagement and ICT Eco-system program organized by the National Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in collaboration with the Plateau State Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation in Jos.
The program which brought together young innovators and government officials to interact and chart a way forward had the theme: “Creating Opportunities, Breaking Boundaries: Towards Digitisation and Entrepreneurial Evolution”
The young Innovators who displayed some of their products, said they desire to produce in higher quantity to meet the growing demands of the citizens who have understood and value locally make products.
One of the innovators, a Jos based graduate of Federal University of Technology Akure in Ondo state and the President of Yohanan Rechargeable Charcoal Stove Mr. John Omokuje who presented his product to Plateau State Commissioners for Information and that of Science, Technology and Innovation, said the patronage for his product is high but he is financially constrained to meet the market demands.
The Charcoal Stove according to Omokuje is easy to use and one can use what they make out of particles call “fire starter” to ignite the fire within 5 second without too much stress of blowing the charcoal.
“If the government can see into it and partner with us and give us some grant or loan to have high scale production, we can even be exporting to neighbouring countries, and that alone would improve and increase the economy of this country.
“But as it stand now we cannot even meet the demands of Plateau people, because a lot of people need it but the funding we have to produce is less”. He added.
Also, Mr. Victor Ayuba, the CEO of Net Access Communication Nigeria Limited, who presented two innovations of Electric home device for home control which can be install in the house and be converted into internet for smart home control and an Edutech for rural learning in Primary Schools.
“The government can come into this investment that we have to improve our productions. One of the areas we are looking at is to do the local production here in Nigeria without going to China, so we need some machines and space like a factory, where we can be assembling our our devices locally here in Nigeria.” Mr. Ayuba explained.
In a keynote address, the Plateau State Commissioner for Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Obed Goselle, appreciated National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) for the choice of Plateau State to host the event, said the ministry has demonstrated in every strata the quest to educate the various ICT hubs startups and to also enlighten the citizens of Plateau State on the need to go digital.
“The escalation of the Information and Communication Industry has scaled up skills development for our teaming youths, public policy formulation through People Process Technology, enhance peer learning, ease of doing businesses, transparency and accountability in governance, better services and efficiency, increase citizens participation, reduce spending by government and increase revenue generally.” Said the Commissioner.
He added that the ministry has setup mercenaries to encourage inventors and Innovators in the areas of Science and Technology and hope to bring the dream to full potentials by 2024.
The Plateau state governor, Barrister Caleb Mutfwang who was represented by the state Commissioner for information assured of government’s support to what will add value to the state as he expressed confident that the event will add value to the Ecosystem in the state.
He appealed to NITDA to consider citing her North Central zonal office in Plateau State because Plateau State is the home of Inventors and Innovators and also a gateway to North Eastern Nigeria.
The Director General of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Kashifu Abdullahi who was represented by Babajide Ajayi, noted that breaking boundaries is not a solitary endeavour, but requires collaboration among government, the private sector, academia and others in the society.
The event according to him, has brought brilliant minds together, and it is a testament to their shared commitment to dismantle barriers that hinder progress. By promoting knowledge exchange, facilitating access to resources, and fostering mentorship to enable a wave of innovation that transcend traditional limits.