Nigeria’s premier and leading private University, Igbinedion University Okada, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a leading digital technology hub, Wootlab Innovation, to set up a digital innovation hub in the university.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, which was held in the senate chamber of the University, the Chief Operating Officer of Wootlab Innovation, Miss Chioma Okoro, noted that the innovation hub, which began in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic with three thousand trainees, has today trained over four hundred thousand individuals with relevant digital skills, allowing them to contribute to the larger society.
She stated that, “We began our journey in 2020 with the goal of contributing meaningfully to society by equipping youths with the necessary digital skills to thrive in an ever-changing world. This has allowed us to train over four hundred thousand individuals from the original three thousand that we started with in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today we have come to Igbinedion University as a way of furthering our goal through this partnership, which would allow us to train and equip students of this University with relevant digital skills necessary in the labour market of today and the future.”
In his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Lawrence Ikechukwu Ezemonye, PhD, FAS, stated that the partnership aligns with the overall mandate of the University, which is to ensure the production of digitally skilled and sound graduates equipped with relevant skills to thrive in an ever-changing global landscape.
He said, “Igbinedion University has always championed digital literacy in all aspects of her student curriculum; every one of our programmes enjoys the feel of a digital component and skill acquisition that helps drive innovation right from the 100-level with the Cisco Appreciation Certificate ogram. As a result of this, we have made it mandatory that every student upon graduation possess a certification in at least one digital skill.” Going further, he said, “Here we have robust industry, academia, and government partnerships that allow us to provide solutions to specific industry and government needs, and by so doing, we bridge the gap in the market.”
The Vice Chancellor expressed optimism that the partnership with Wootlab Innovation will allow the University to “capture people in the South-South and South-East Zone’ in the drive for the acquisition of digital skills amongst youths, which have become a top priority for employability.
Wootlab Foundation is a non-profit organisation that leverages technology to promote inclusive and quality education for out-of-school children and youths in Africa, to produce quality employability and entrepreneurial capabilities, thereby advancing sustainable development goals in promoting employability, technology-related labour exports, and decent work for economic growth.
