Innovation Hub: Edo Youths Hail Osinbajo, Obaseki For Facilities, Thrilled By Training, Skills Acquisition Prospects

Youths in Edo State have hailed Governor Godwin Obaseki and the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo for the initiative in setting up the South-South Innovation Hub and Edo Innovates, the two facilities launched recently at the Institute of Continuing Education (ICE), in Benin City, as a platform for youths to get trained and proffer digital solutions to everyday problem.

Recall that the Vice President during his two-day visit to the state, launched the South-South Innovation Hub and performed groundbreaking of the 1800-Emotan Gardens project.

A number of the youths at the launch expressed appreciation to the governor and the Vice President for setting up the hub, noting that it was gratifying to know that youths in the state would now have equal opportunity as their colleagues elsewhere to get trained and be engaged in a vibrant digital ecosystem that is supported by the state and federal government.

Mr. Sunday Olufemi, from Akoko Edo Local Government Area of the state, said that he was most excited about the one-stop shop for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) clinic, where young people can now have access to relevant federal government agencies to ease business registration, product certification, and access to finance and mentoring.

According to him, “I can confidently say that this is the best thing to have happened to youths in Edo State. Now, we no longer have to go to Lagos before we get training to become full-fledged start-ups. The expertise and support structures are now available for us in Edo State.”

Mr. Fred Omoregie, an undergraduate at the University of Benin (UNIBEN), said the hub is a dream come true to many tech-savvy young residents in the state, noting that they now have a viable, well-structured facility to express themselves.

He said, “I believe this will revolutionalise this state. Young people have been looking for where to express themselves for years but didn’t have such a facility that can give them a sense of direction. With this, Engineering, Computer Science graduates and others from different disciplines can now have a go at tech solutions to problems.”