By 
By Oluwatobi Opusunju
Discussing Bayelsa and ICT at State House, Yenagoa
The government of Bayelsa State has revealed plans to launch one of the country’s largest public funded innovation hubs later this year even as the state appealed for the support of the deferral government in setting up the hub as a centre to build capacity and strengthens the country’s desirous journey into the knowledge economy.
Governor of Bayelsa State, Rt Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson spoke during the courtesy visit to his office by the Honorable Minister of Communication Barr Adebayo Shittu as part of the ceremony to kickoff the three-day Bayelsa Technology Forum tagged ‘Bayelsa Ignition Week 2018.’
Governor Dickson said “We have come to recognise the critical role of IT in manpower development and the high prospect to build an economy out of unwholesome dependency on natural resources. Our youth are our wealth and we believe a centre that encourages their natural talent to innovate is important to building a new Bayelsa that is prosperous and peaceful. We are glad to have the honourable minister with us and his team which demonstrates his commitment to the sector and our country. ”
Earlier the minister had spoken of the need to be part of the global economy and look for a future for Nigeria in ICT outside of crude oil. “The only resource that never is never depleted but keeps expanding is the human mind. The richest people are no longer those who own or manage natural resources including crude oil but those who operate in the global knowledge economy. Our future rests in our young people and we must teach them to innovate and be active players in the global ICT space. My ministry is willing and sees it as an obligation to support this government and our citizens in Bayelsa state,” said the minister, Shittu.
Stakeholders with Gov Dickson and Minister Shittu for Bayelsa Ignition Week inside State House, Yenagoa
His statement was further echoed by former director general of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr. Peter Jack. His words: “ The honourable minister has rightly observed that there’s no future outside of ICT and capacity development in young people. I am happy that the Young Innovators of Nigeria (YIN) has initiated to work with government at federal and state levels to provide the building blocks to create a knowledge direction for our young people in this state.”
The Bayelsa Ignition Week 2018′ holds from March 1-3. The event welomes innovators and other stakeholders across the broad spectrum of ICT, including tech entrepreneurs, hardware and software makers, tech aggregators, angel investors and venture capitalists.
The event will be featuring facilitators that drive Nigeria’s technology innovation space including founder of Jidaw Systems and a Fellow of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Jide Awe; founder of Jos based nHub, Daser David; founder of Network of Incubators and Innovators in Nigeria (NINe), Bankole Oloruntoba; founder of Startup Arewa, Mohammed Ibrahim Jega; CEO of Qitech Technology and editor at IT Edge News, Olusegun Oruame among other trainers.
‘Bayelsa Ignition Week’ is powered the Bayelsa State Government as the Host-State, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), and Nigerian Computer Society (NCS), and Knowhow Media International (publishers of IT Edge News) amongst other stakeholders.
The ‘Bayelsa Ignition Week 2018’ is put together for Bayelsa State government by the YIN as part of a long term strategic framework by YIN and the Government of Bayelsa State to develop the ICT innovation ecosystem in the oil rich state and assist young Bayelsans in acquiring tech skills.
YIN is led by Abu Andrew and Head Business of Development Engr. Jeffery Udende, Senior Special Assistant to Benue State Governor on ICT.
