Nigeria must key into technology to achieve growth, says Obanikoro

Member representing Eti-Osa Federal Constituency, Ibrahim Babajide Obanikoro, has stressed the need to invest more in technology and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for growth.

Obanikoro made the call, yesterday, at a town hall meeting and empowerment programme, in conjunction with Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, (SMEDAN), where he distributed 1000 laptops and funds for SMEs to beneficiaries at the Young Men Christian Association (YMCA), Awolowo Road, Lagos.

Obanikoro also gave bursary to some students to help them meet immediate school financial needs. Some petty traders also received grants to boost their businesses.

He said: “This year, we plan to focus on the technological advancement of our constituents. The world has gone digital. And the earlier we key into it, the better for our growth. That is why we have decided to start the year by distributing 1000 laptops to some of our students, residents, and also to our friends at Eti-Osa police.

“It is my belief the laptops will aid our students in school work, help some of our constituents in their businesses and our police stations in information management and record keeping.

“All areas focused on, today, are key sectors that affect and drive the economy of our constituency. Injecting this empowerment into our constituency will increase the bottom line Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Eti-Osa and give succor to our constituents.

“In the course of the year 2021, we identified a lot of training for artisans in our constituency, to help them get better technics, finesse, access to more funds, and better equipment, with the focus mainly on youths.”

He said further: “We will also heavily align with the Federal Government’s focus on agriculture by training more people and helping to secure agricultural soft loans for our people. In other words, we have identified some support programmes for farmers in Eti-Osa in 2022.

“We cannot over-emphasise the importance of communication, hence we will be resuming our monthly attendance of resident associations meetings, which was disrupted by COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 and the most part of 2021. The security and welfare of my constituents is of paramount importance. And as always, I am very keen to listen and act to the best of my abilities.

“On our contribution to education, a free school bus scheme was launched, to ease the commute of children. This is still very much ongoing and we plan to provide additional buses.

“We also started construction of three blocks of classrooms each for Okun Ajah and Ajiran communities. They are at about 70 per cent to 80 per cent complete as at today.”

Obanikoro added: “For infrastructure, as we promised during our campaign, we facilitated rehabilitation of two roads in Eti-Osa: one in Sola Omole Street in the Ado area, while the second is Obalende Odo Street.

“Reconstruction and rehabilitation of four other roads within the constituency are currently ongoing.
In general, I have been committed to the needs and demands of our constituents, to the best of my ability.”