Vice-President Kashim Shettima says Nigerian universities must become centres of innovation, enterprise and industrialisation to accelerate economic growth and achieve the country’s development aspirations.
He said this on Monday while inaugurating the Manufacturing Technology University Innovation Pod (Manu-Tech UniPod) at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike in Ikwuano Local Government Area.
It is meant to promote technological innovation and entrepreneurship.
The initiative is a specialised innovation and digital manufacturing hub established by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with Federal Government through Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund.
The Vice-President, represented by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said the programme reflected President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda which prioritises education, innovation, industrialisation, youth empowerment and economic diversification.
He said that the Federal Ministry of Education was implementing the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative to strengthen foundational education, technical skills, digitalisation, research, innovation, commercialisation and enterprise development nationwide.
“The university of the future must produce innovators, entrepreneurs, inventors, manufacturers and employers of labour. Our universities must become the birthplace of industries,” Shettima said.
He said that the innovation pod would connect researchers, industries and entrepreneurs, supporting the FG’s vision of building a one-trillion-dollar economy by 2030.
Governor Alex Otti of Abia said that the partnership between academia and industry through the Manu-Tech UniPod would redefine manufacturing, innovation and economic development in the state.
Mr Otti said that the facility would redirect university research towards solving practical problems, creating commercially viable products and attracting greater investment into businesses across the state and region.
He expressed the state government’s support for the initiative saying that it aligned with the economic development outline of his administration.
Mr Otti said that effective utilisation of the Manu-Tech UniPod would shift the challenge from finding markets to expanding production capacity for customers across 54 African countries and beyond.
The United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, Ahunna Eziakonwa, said that the innovation pod represented more than a development project.
Mrs Eziakonwa, who is also the Director of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Africa, described the programme as part of UNDP’s Timbuktoo Initiative.
The initiative aims at mobilising one billion dollars to support 10,000 African start-ups, scale 1,000 businesses and create 10 million decent jobs across the continent.
She urged young Africans to embrace innovation, collaboration and self-reliance as pathways to solving the continent’s development challenges.
The Executive Secretary of TETFund, Sonny Echono, said the Manu-Tech UniPod wasa key component of the National Innovation and Digital Transformation Partnership Programme, facilitating a partnership between the agency and UNDP.
Mr Echono, represented by Dr Suleiman Zangina, said the partnership was designed to transform Nigeria’s tertiary institutions into innovation-driven hubs supporting entrepreneurship, research commercialisation and national development.
He said that the partnership would activate seven new innovation pods and facilitate the establishment of 12 innovation hubs nationwide.
Mr Echono said that this would create a seamless ecosystem where academic research would be converted into market-ready solutions, strengthen human capital development and drive Nigeria’s transition to a knowledge-based economy.
The UNDP Resident Representative in Nigeria, Elsie Attafuah, said that Manu-Tech UniPod focuses on connecting education, research, enterprise and manufacturing to transform talent into industries, competitiveness, employment opportunities and sustainable economic growth.
Mrs Attafuah said that plans were underway to expand the UniPods from seven to 21 nationwide, thereby building an innovation ecosystem that would attract investment, nurture entrepreneurs and unlock Nigeria’s comparative economic advantages.