By Ayo Ajayi
The Federal Government has pledged its continuous support for innovations and technological development in various tertiary institutions across the country.
The Executive Secretary, National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Dr. Masau’du Adamu Kazuare made the pledge, Monday, at the opening ceremony of the on-going Innovation Week and I-Hub Launch of the Yaba College of Technology, YabaTech, Lagos.
Kazaure represented at the event by the Rector, Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, Arc. Dr. O. O. Aluko, expressed delight at the establishment of i-hub by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at its first pilot project in West Africa, even as he highlighted government expectations of the centre.
“The expectation of government is that the centre will provide the enabling environment to nurture the new idea and help develop inquisitive perspective in our youths, this, in turn, will help to develop the economy through the production of entrepreneur from our theming youths population.
“This hub shall also be able to provide a meeting point for academia, industry, business expert and the government,” he stated.
While appreciating the effort of the UNESCO in establishing the innovation hub, the Executive Secretary expressed hope that more of such centres would be established in other parts of the country in no distance future.
The Rector, Yaba College of Technology, YabaTech, Engineer Femi Omokugbe while recounting the innovation journey at the College highlighted some of its landmark achievements, which include development of non-formal courses such as flexible and blended learning in conjunction with Commonwealth of Learning (COL), digitalisation of students’ examination for some general courses and conversion of waste to edible protein through Mushroom Production Technology among others.
“Innovation in Yaba College of Technology has resulted in continuous improvement of various interventions such as inclusiveness and gender equality, teachers training, professional development, work-based learning and leadership training.”
The ceremony was graced by experts from all walks of life including representatives from UNESCO-UNEVOC, Germany, peer reviewers from UNIVOTECH, Sri Lanka, Federal and State government’s Ministry and Parastatals, research institutions as well as staff and students of YabaTech.
The week-long event will end on Friday, October 25, 2019, with exhibitions of various research works and innovative products.
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