Echono… Raising the bars for technology, innovations in tertiary education

On assumption of office in Marcy last year, the Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Arc. Sonny Echono affirmed the Fund’s commitment to the development of technology and innovations in Nigerian tertiary education.

He said: “The government of Nigeria thinks in the direction of promoting technology and we are in the process of establishing a national institute here in Abuja. There will be a postgraduate institution, which is also intended to stimulate the technological transformation of our country.
  
True to this promise, Echono has been proactive, holding partnerships that aim to strengthen the relationship between the academic and the industry.
  
As part of such efforts the Fund recently went into partnership with Innov8 Hub, an Innovation Startup-driven organization. The collaboration was to enable innovative opportunities accessible to academics in tertiary institutions.

According to Echono, many Nigerians who took part in startup programmes by Innov8 Hub have recorded several breakthroughs in inventions and technology.
 
Declaring the programme open, the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, stated that the initiative would help in addressing the existing gaps in education and proffer solutions that would help Nigeria meet global demands.

According to Adamu, who was represented by the Minister of State for Education, Honorable Goodluck Nanah Opiah, “Most of the countries that have emerged as global leaders have achieved this status through ingenuity and hard work of their scientists. I believe that all the experiences gained would be deployed to improve and expand the frontiers of science and technology in solving real life problems.”

Also at that fair was the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Senator Adeleke Mamora. The Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mrs. Monilola Udoh, represented him. The Minister told the guests that the initiative would further help in harnessing the massive talents in science and engineering in Nigeria as well as boost local enterprises.
  
Explaining the role of Innov8 Hub in the collaboration, the Communications Adviser, Mr. Deji Ige, stated that the “Innov8 Hub in simple terms, was a midwife that helps Nigerians who are pregnant with innovative ideas to birth their ideas into invention, nurse their invention into solution and transform their solution into enterprise.
  
Noting that Innov8 Hub has helped Nigerians in developing and perfecting over 72 prototypes ready for commercialization, Ige added that it has also been involved in the emergence of 15 solid startups and currently working with over 150 innovators, inventors and venture creators, among whom are academics and researchers.
  
The TETFund Director of Research and Development, Dr. Salihu Girei Bakari, in his remarks, commended the initiative. He went on to outline some of the benefits of the partnership to include reduction in the wholesale consumption of foreign technology, increase in knowledge creation and absorption through creation of patents.