By Hillary Asemota
The Permanent Secretary, Edo State Ministry of Science and Technology, Mrs. Birgitta Okodugha, has said the state has some of the brightest and best minds in the world of technology and innovation with capability to reposition Nigeria and the state for the good of all.
The Edo tech community, on Monday, began showcase of its latest inventions, which including among others an automatic fingerprint machine and a locally made modular refinery at the maiden edition of the Edo technology and innovation Expo.
The expo was organized by the state government to showcase some of the cutting-edge inventions by the state’s tech community. It is also designed to select some of the best innovations that will represent Edo at the National Expo, scheduled to take place by next month in Abuja.
The programme with the theme, “Leveraging on Science, Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Economic Growth and Development,” was held at the Edo Production Centre, Benin City.
In his speech, the Chairman, Edo State Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof. Kessington Obahiagbon, said the government is committed to leveraging the potential of youths in the state and supporting them to take competitive advantage of the global ICT market.
According to him: “The Edo State Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation was inaugurated on the 23rd of November, 2021, by Governor Godwin Obaseki, with the mandate to develop a strategy that will make Edo State the hub for science, technology and innovation in Nigeria.
“It is in line with our terms of reference that we have put this together to showcase a lot of the salient innovation that abound in our institutions like the universities, polytechnics, technical colleges, as well as private innovators, artisans, and private companies, among others.
“What we saw in this expo are new ways of doing things better in order to save time, cost and create more jobs, which will, in turn, improve the economy of our state. I hope the awareness created here today will encourage our youths to apply their brains and talents in the positive direction and reject negative vices.”
“This expo is not for sale of goods as it is not a trade fair, but for sales of ideas and concepts in terms of technology and innovation that in the long term will create job opportunities,” he added.
Some of the products exhibited at the five-day Technology and Innovation Expo include a one-ton truck indigenously built by the University of Benin; an automatic fingerprint machine constructed by Ambrose Alli University and a locally-made modular refinery capable of producing, engine oil, kerosene, fuel and gas, among others.