The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Pantami,  has urged Nigerian Start-ups to keep being innovative towards standing a chance of excelling at the global stage.
Pantami made the call when he officially received two Nigerian Start-ups that were among the winners at the LEAP Rocket Fuel Pitch competition  in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in Abuja, recently.
The Tide source learnt that Nigeria’s participation, facilitated by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), happened because the nation is a member of the Digital Corporation Organisation (DCO).
DCO is a global multilateral body that aims at enabling digital prosperity for all by accelerating inclusive growth of the digital economy.
The start-ups were RiceAfrika Technologies, a tech-driven agriculture optimisation service provider and Wicrypt, a start-up innovation that enables for sharing of internet to people anywhere.
The Minister also commended the start-ups and added  that their efforts promote the image of Nigeria at the global stage.
“This is supposed to be the beginning not the end, we need to have many of you that will emerge because Nigeria is so passionate about innovation.
“You are job providers not seekers because the challenge of unemployment, underemployment can only be addressed by promoting our digital innovation and digital entrepreneurship.
“We are more interested in supporting job providers and if there is anything the government can do to support you to be successful, we are always ready”, he said.
He  noted that the Federal Government would continue to make efforts to provide the enabling environment for innovators and start-ups to continue to amplify the positive image of the country.
“Recently, we initiated the Nigeria Start-up Act which is among the most important legislations we have in Nigeria, particularly when it comes to addressing the challenges confronted by our innovators,” he added.

“Also, after my visit to the US SpaceX, few days later Nigeria happened to be the first country to have StarLink. As of today, Starlink covers the entire landmass of Nigeria approximately 920,000 square kilometres.

“These are some of the things that will drive the sector and the ecosystem to be successful”,  he said.

He also commended President Muhammadu Buhari for approving for Nigeria to be part of the DCO and also the DCO for totally supporting 16 Nigerians’ participation in the competition.

According to him, Nigeria will actively promote the activities of the DCO and support the organisation for global success.

The Director-General of NITDA , Mr Kashifu Inuwa, recalled that 12 start-ups were listed from the country to participate in the LEAP 2023 pitch competition with over 10,000 applications.

Inuwa said the DCO shortlisted about 220 and eight were selected, while the DCO funded two persons from each start-up amounting to 16 persons.

“In the first round, 90 were selected to participate at the semi-final, all eight start-ups from Nigeria were among the 90 start-ups. Out of the 90, 12 qualified for the finals, while three are from Nigeria, the Wicrypt, the RiceAfrika and Scholar Limited and two became winners out of the six categories, Nigeria took two categories”, he said.

The Chief Executive Officer of RiceAfrika,  Ibrahim Maigar, further added  it was an honour to represent Nigeria at the global stage.

The management of Godfrey Okoye University (GOUNI), Enugu, has declared its intention  to partner and encourage young entrepreneurs to create employment opportunities in Nigeria.
Vice Chancellor of the university, Rev. Fr. Christian Anieke, disclosed this in a statement issued by the institution’s Acting Public Relations Officer, Godwin Umeh, in Enugu recently.
The statement revealed that the VC announced the partnership while receiving a young inventor and Chief Executive Officer of Xavier Technologies, Mr Ugonna Odenigwe, who visited him in his office.
Anieke was quoted to have also said the partnership would help to promote initiatives and inventions in technologies.
He said the university’s  management had approved the request by the inventor to organise an exhibition and sensitisation programme for his products and the importance of information technologies in modern society.
He further said the exhibition would take place at the Justice Cordelia Chukwurah Convocation Arena, Thinkers Corner of the university on July 7.
“The leadership and other officials of other tertiary institutions would be invited to witness and acquire more knowledge on technological development during the exhibition”, he said.
In a remark, the APC Senatorial candidate for Enugu East, Ada Ogbu, described the university as a wonderful institution with well organised programmes.
She said education is the key that keeps the youths busy and equips them for future challenges.
She thanked Anieke and other members of the management for their effort to fast-track the development of the university.

Ogbu urged the youths to embrace Information and Communication Technology, describing it as the future of the country.

The House of Representatives member, representing PDP- Ibadan North-West/South-West Constituency,  Hon Adedeji Olajide, has said the lingering challenge of insecurity in Nigeria can be checked through the use of drone technology like satellite planes.
Olajide, who stated this recently in an interview with newsmen  in Ibadan, said plane drones could be deployed to the forest to locate and trace the movements of the bandits, cattle rustlers and kidnappers hiding in the forest.
According to him, Nigeria can actually comb the entire forest with the help of technology to detect the movement, location and image of those suspected criminals disturbing the peace of this country.
“Most of the bandits, cattle rustlers, kidnappers and armed robbers use cell phones and with the help of these technologies, we can locate and trace their movements and get them out of their hideouts.
“In the United States, everybody’s conversation is recorded, they have a huge data centre, they can record and track you, as well as monitor your activities through those gadgets and we can apply same in Nigeria too.
“When we record their conversations, we can now use the judiciary to access that data, because ordinarily, you cannot access or use that data unless you apply for it through the court”, he said.
Olajide, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Bentley Energy Nigeria limited, said Nigeria will become a secured nation when people are no longer involved in crime and corruption.
He added that technology could also help in curbing, to a reasonable level, evil vices ravaging the nation.
“There are so many duplication in our budgeting system: somebody will sit down in an agency in Abuja and decide which project should be sited in Ibadan without coming to Ibadan.
“l am confident and resolute that Nigeria will change for the better with the help of technology. We can use technology to curb election rigging, have a repository centre of all data and that is what we are suppose to be doing, but it was not being done; two people can’t be alike, the finger prints are different”, he said.
According to him, there are so many things the country can do to capture and place in the data base and figure out the duplications.
“All these fraudulent account operators can be fished out and that is how we can use technology to secure our society”, he said.