Enugu Targets Becoming Nigeria’s Technology Tourism Hub In 2022
Sequel to the establishment of Enugu Tech Hub and Youth Innovation centres at Enugu City and Obollo Afor, plans are underway to employ 10, 000 youths and create 1, 500 small scale tech businesses in the state.
The state commissioner for science and technology, Hon Obi Kama, told newsmen weekend that the target of the state ‘is to turn Enugu into a technology tourism state within the next three years by bringing in the best tech innovations through localization to increase the state’s Gross Domestic Product’.
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According to Kama, the focus of the innovation included computer training programmes, solar skills acquisition training, computer coding, website designs, graphic designs, confectionaries and hands-on technical skills training. The centres would be equipped with computer sets, solar power source, 100 KVA generators, internet access, training tools and consumables, he added.
He further stated that the facilities being installed at the centres ‘are state-of-the-arts in line with Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s vision for ICT and technical skills acquisition for employment generation and wealth creation’.
In his words, “Enugu State, over the years, has been rated the highest academic hub of the Southern Nigeria, hosting more than 10 indigenous universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. Some of these graduates travel abroad for more sophisticated skills acquisition. The Enugu State Tech Hub intends to drive technology innovation down home as it is designed to discourage our youths from travelling to Lagos, India, China, other countries, to acquire technical skills that will enable them to fit into the modem society and compete favourably with other professionals.
“Those skills you travel abroad to acquire will be provided them at your doorsteps. The hub will not only groom them, it will also provide a ‘Tech Cluster’ for ‘Tech Start Ups’ for those who want to own businesses but may not have enough capital to rent offices and start up. It will create enabling atmosphere for them to start businesses with ease.”
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He revealed that target candidates were graduates of higher institutions ‘who want to make a career in professional ICT and technology related disciplines; non-graduates with some technical skills, entrepreneurs and prospective farmers and artisans’, adding that ‘the project will serve as an interface between tech giants like Microsoft, IBM, HP, Alibaba, Google, Facebook etc and Enugu Tech Start ups’.
He said the courses offered at the centres were web application development, mobile app, and software development; website design and hosting; professional graphics – Adobe Suits; data science and analytics; business intelligence, agro business and automation and Ease of Doing Business (EODB), among others.
