Expert Commends NCC for promoting Innovations, Tasks FG on sustainability

Uwaje who doubled as the Chief Judge at at a three-day Maiden Edition of the Innovation Competition and Exhibition focused on “Promoting Innovation and Creativity in the Telecoms Sector” made this disclosure in Lagos.

Speaking with Pressmen at the sideline of the event, he expressed his delight at the rear talents displayed by Nigerian youths during the competition.

This, according to him, is an era of digital discovery and government must encourage the continuity of this kind of initiative in Nigeria.

“We must recognised that this is a specialised competition for existing innovations hubs in Nigeria. This competition is different from hackathon.

“With the youth statistics of about 65% -75% in Nigeria,looking closely experts will discover that there are about tens of thousands of them doing great stuffs.

“In the IT space, Nigerian youths are found innovating great things that has not been discovered. Therefore, we are in the era of digital discovery for the talents of  Nigerian youths and Africa at large.

“Government must encourage and proceed to make this a quarterly project, this is because the population to be addressed are many.

“There are lot we need to do and Nigerian youths are so engaged, platform like this need to be created for our youth to showcase their talents and innovations specially designed for our environment”, Uwaje said.

The Commission Secretary, Felix Adeoye,  who represented the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Prof. Umar Danbatta said the exhibition had been organised to bring together competitors from technology hubs with novel ideas and projects to showcase their talents and innovations in ICT in order to  promote tech hubs and start-ups for new breakthroughs and business delivery.

According to Adeoye, through the exhibition, the Commission will assist contestants to bring their ideas to fruition and give them the platform to present their innovations to both local and global venture investors.

In his keynote address, Ubale Maska, the Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, NCC, who was represented by Ephraim Nwokonneya, Director, Research and Development, NCC, stated that the ICT sector is a key driver of Phaheem Pharmaceuticals Limited and digital economy in Nigeria and the world over.

Accordingly, Nwokonneya said the Federal Government had recently adopted a digital economic framework that will fast track the country’s agenda to tap from the enormous potentials of the 4th industrial revolution.

“The Commission is committed to deliver on the mandate to facilitate the development of the core pillars of digital infrastructure, digital platforms, digital skills acquisitions and digital entrepreneurship,” he emphasised.

After series and rounds of presentations, discussions as well as questions and answers sessions by the panel of judges and focusing on local content component of the innovators’ business plans, 10 best-in-class innovative ideas, were shortlisted out of the 25 tech innovators from the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria.

From the 10 shortlisted innovators, Martins Fidelis, founder of Qatalog Automates emerged the best and won the first prize, WICRYPT came second and Phaheem Pharmaceuticals Limited came third. The three leading innovators won N3 million, N2 million and N1 million respectively.