The complaints that successive governments do not productively engage many young Nigerians have become a refrain. And the anomaly of many youths choosing to deploy their intellect in negative vocations like internet frauds and other wrong doings is today, often, adduced to this neglect of the young population. Yet, not much is being done nationally, at least not on a large scale, to reverse the ugly trend.
It is against this backdrop that the people of Ikorodu and environs, especially the youth, were over the moon on Friday, May 19, when the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, commissioned the Senator Abiru Innovation Laboratory (SAIL), an innovation space created in conjunction with Co-Creation Hub (CcHub) to drive youth empowerment and entrepreneurship.
The project, the brainchild of former banker and the current senator representing Lagos East Senatorial District, Senator Mukhail Adetokunbo Abiru, which is run under the SAIL Foundation, is a unique community innovation space for young people in Lagos East to create employment opportunities, inspire grassroots innovation, and build partnerships and networks that will drive economic prosperity and solve significant social and business problems.
The new hub is designed to teach young people new innovative and technological ways of doing things. So far, over a thousand young Nigerians have been trained at SAIL free of charge.
According to Senator Abiru, SAIL is his way of giving back to the society and ensuring that young Nigerians are productively engaged. He added that as bad as the global economic outlook is, there are still jobs out there, noting that the challenge is many do not have the requisite skills to do the jobs.
Senator Abiru praised his wife, Feyisola, and his siblings who were present at the commissioning of the project for the support given to him in the conception and realization of the project. He added that if not for them, the project would never have seen the light of day.
Speaking during the commissioning, Governor Sanwo-Olu, said there was no way the nation could compete with the likes of China unless it improved on her technological know-how. He also added that to create solutions, not only locally but globally, the nation needs that leap in technology.
He expressed satisfaction that the state has been able to create enabling environment for businesses to thrive and for young Nigerians to express themselves and fulfill their potentials. He added that there was no way the younger and present generation of Nigerians would not be able to do things, which his own generation was unable to do. Sanwo-Olu explained that Nigeria has the population to excel and be prosperous, noting that the time has come to unleash that population. He also identified technology as what would give the nation advancement and opportunity to create solutions, not only here, but globally.
“We are proud that what we cannot do, those coming behind us will do it. I am glad that Microsoft wants to make Nigeria its African hub. As Governor, I will continue to provide enabling environment for businesses to thrive. 55% of new investments came to Lagos last year. Lagos will remain home to major international players. To the students of this innovation hub, this opportunity is to give you hope and future to express yourself and ensure that you own that future. Once you finish your training here, we hand you over to Microsoft and Meta,” he stated.
In his remarks, Senator Abiru went down memory lane to when he was in the banking sector where he rose to become the managing director and chief executive officer of Skye Bank, now Polaris Bank. He said when he started his career in Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), the bank started the idea of real time online banking. However, he later discovered that when they did technological upgrade as managing director of Skye Bank, most of their staff could not cope with the new technology. He added that while people might have certificate, skill is very important.
“We have global economic meltdown but there are jobs out there. The challenge is only that many don’t have the skills to do these jobs. That is where Sail Innovation Laboratory comes in,” Abiru stated.
He added, to the admiration of those present at the event: “And I can tell you that those that will pass through this hub and are passing through it, it will be free of charge. That is our own contribution to the society. And they will be here for six months.”
On his relationship with Dr. Olatunbosun Tijani, Senator Abiru said he usually calls him an expert due to his vast knowledge of new technology and how it could be deployed to achieve so many things.
“I have interacted with Bosun (Dr. Tijani) and I call him the expert. The young people have done great things and I strongly believe we can do more and provide more for our youths. Before I came into politics, I had over 30 years of corporate experience.”
In his remarks, Dr. Tijani said it is young people that drive innovation and growth anywhere. “It is our young people that drive innovation and growth. We have to engage and empower them to be able to do this driving. There are numerous people doing amazing things. It is what these people are doing that will drive innovation in our community.
That is why SAIL Innovation Laboratory is special. Young people in Ikorodu will start to develop solutions to the challenges of Ikorodu and Nigeria at large, and by extension, contribute to the economic development of the country and the continent.”
While disclosing that CcHub has expanded beyond Nigeria to other countries like Rwanda, Namibia and Kenya, he said that the Fourth Industrial Revolution is special because Africa does not have need IMT to participate. “The future we are looking up to is already being controlled by technology. We have to participate, if not, it will be second level colonisation.”
