The Essence
of “Roar Nigeria Hub” Launched by UNN
The University of Nigeria has added another first
to its record of innovations by launching a full-fledged university-embedded
science and technology incubator called “Roar Nigeria Hub”. The hub is the
first of its kind in West Africa. Born
out of collaboration between the university and the Benefiting Our Community
(BOG) Innovations, Roar Nigeria aims to produce new generation of innovators
that will provide local technology-based solutions with global perspective. The
hub is built on the concept of triple helix, which is an interaction between
the academia, the industry and the government to promote ideas, and marketable
innovations among students and researchers. The launching of Roar Nigeria Hub on Wednesday
25th April 2017 attracted foremost IT companies, including Google, Facebook,
Huawei Technologies, Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC), National
Information Technology Agency (NITDA), Computer Warehouse Group, and Exxon
Mobil.
The mood of the event was set by an emotional
opening prayers said by Professor Patience Osadebe, the Dean, School of
Postgraduate Studies of the university. The Professor pleaded with God to cast
away the spirit of consumerism from Nigerians and grant the citizens the wisdom
to be productive. “We are tired of benefiting from food is ready” Osadebe prayed
God to “help us cook our own food for others to eat”. Osadebe’s prayer was
echoed by the Governor of Enugu State, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuaanyi, who in his
address noted that Nigeria would not attend the desired level of development if
it continues to rely on technologies produced by other nations.
Read also: ROAR NIGERIAHUB: HAS FINALLY COME TO STAY
The governor, who was represented
by the Enugu State Commissioner for Science and Technology, Engineer Greg
Nnaji, said the concept of the hub was in line with the effort
of the government to entrench information technology culture in the society to
boost economic development and produce employment for the youths. “By
establishing this facility” the governor said that the “University of Nigeria,
Nsukka has once again demonstrated its willingness and capacity to take up the
challenge to deliver scientific and technological breakthroughs, which, with
the support of the private sector, would impact on the economic fortunes of the
nation” The launching was a dream come true for the administration of the
Professor Benjamin Ozumba, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nigeria,
who after visiting a science park in Sweden in 2016, vowed to establish same in
the University of Nigeria. “We want to turn Nigeria around with inventions and
innovations” Ozumba said that “very soon; you will hear about students of UNN
making laudable inventions in ICT and other fields of life”. Ozumba took the
first step of ensuring that students of the university are IT compliant in 2015
when he mandated that every student of the university must own a laptop
computer in order to meet the demands of the 21st century tertiary
education. Although the policy attracted mixed reactions leading to the removal
of the compulsory clause, Ozumba however believes that the university has the
capacity to assemble its own laptop. “In the next few months, made in UNN
laptops will flood Nigerian market, this is the first mandate of Roar Nigeria
Hub”, he said. Manufacturing of laptops is not the only dream nursed by
Ozumba’s administration; the Vice-Chancellor said the university would soon
start assembling tractors for agricultural use. He challenged the Roar
Nigeria Hub to come up with innovations that would curtail wastage of
agricultural produce in the country.
Part of the promises of the
hub, is to assist young innovators secure funds to set their ideas in motion;
provide mentorship to young innovators, and support innovative ideas into
marketable products. “Roar Nigeria Hub is an ecosystem that supports
upcoming entrepreneurs by providing professional support to enable the young
minds convert their ideas to marketable products” said the Chairman/Director of
Roar Nigeria, Okechi Igwebuike. He noted that the hub would enable the
creation of indigenous solutions, jobs and economic growth within its
environment. Igwebuike said the initiative was private sector driven
would be taken to other universities across the country. The hub started
on a good note with three innovative groups presenting their proposals. The
first group called “AGROMESS” developed an app that will help farmers solve the
problem of wastage of agricultural products. The app will help identify parts
of the country that have surplus agro products and link them to areas where the
products are scarce. The second group called “Malicha” developed a mobile app
that uses artificial intelligence to recommend hairstyle that will fit a
particular facial make-up, while the third group called “Thrillers” developed
an app that will notify people of events happening around them in their mobile
phones. All the proposals were made by students of the University of
Nigeria
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