FROM: Dappa Maharajah.
ONDO State governor, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), yesterday signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding with three institutions to make the state an ICT hub, saying it will create mass youth employment.
Akeredolu said it was in pursuit of the critical aspect of the 5-Cardinal Programmes of his administration centred on job creation and to make all sectors ICT compliant in accordance with best practices.
The partners involved in the new enterprise signed at the Governor’s Office, Akure, are: Ondo State Government, Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) and an ICT Firm, Tech-Up.
According to him, the tripod partnership on technology enterprise is aimed at developing an ICT Enterprise programme named: “Akure Tech Hub” to provide sustainable means of livelihood for the teeming IT savvy youths in the state.
He revealed that the first phase would be an avenue for developing and enhancing the innate Information and CommunicationTechnology skills in different categories of unemployed youths.
Governor Akeredolu remarked that Nigerian youths have the infinite capacity to propel the world if provided with the necessary wherewithal.
He observed that the nation is blessed with talented youths who have globally outshined their counterparts in technological development which according to him have greater roles to play in turning the state and the country around.
The Tech-Up representative, Mr Joel Ogunsola, earlier, said Akure Tech Hub was introduced to make the state capital one of the most preferred technology frontier in Africa, following the huge talent pools domiciled in the city.
This development was, shortly, four days after the launch of FUTA’s Nigerian CubeSat whose Birds 1 Satellite was docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday.
The Head, Media and Protocol Unit of the university, Mr. Adegbenro Adebanjo, who disclosed that it was eventually launched on Saturday June 3, 2017 at exactly 10:07am, said it was a great signal for technological prosperity in the state.
The Nigerian CubeSat, code named NigeriaEdusat-1, is designed, built and owned by the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) in collaboration with National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Abuja, Nigeria and the Kyushu Institute of Technology Japan.
“The satellite is expected to dock at the International Space Station, ISS on Monday June 5 at 10:30 AM Nigerian Time. It is the first ever university satellite to be launched in Nigeria. From the International Space Station the satellites will be deployed into lower orbit during the last week of June 2017.
“The major objective of NigeriaEdusat-1 is capacity building, i. e. domesticating the satellite technology in a Nigerian university, FUTA, and making the technology a common business among staff and students of the university in Nigeria for the purpose of research, resources and environmental management and sustainable socio-economic development of the nation.
“The satellite technology development in the long run shall have spillover effects on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education that is an essential tool for a country industrial development,” he said.
Mr. Ibukun Adebolu, who is from FUTA’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and representative of Nigeria on the project, was involved in the structure configuration design of BIRDS Project.
According to him, “My role in the Birds’ Project is Structure Design. Drawing on my background in Mechanical Engineering, I am saddled with the task of ensuring that our satellites have sufficient strength and rigidity to survive the rigorous launch and space environments.
“In order to achieve this, I have to ensure that all payload and Bus System are properly accommodated within the 10 cubic centimeter structure. I find this very challenging, because it involves a lot of optimization and trade-offs. In the future, I hope to work more on other aspects of satellite design.”
The new Vice Chancellor of FUTA, Professor Joseph Fuwape, who was at the MoU signing event, corroborated the governor and assured that the institution would supply the required manpower to transform the fortunes of the state.
He added that FUTA has shown the capabilities of Nigerian scientists not only to distinguish themselves in learning but also to set trails ablaze technologically.
Prof. Fuwape assured that the institution would continually build on the success to concretize its leading position in cutting edge researches and scientific breakthroughs.
