Oyo state came into existence after the division of the old Western
State of Nigeria into states during state creation programme of the then Military
Government. During the brief civil rule, the region has been known as the place
where first things in terms of project construction happened in Nigeria and
Africa in general. For instance, Ibadan, its current state capital, is the
first place to have Television station in Africa. Not only that, the city is
the first to have Stadium in Africa. These strides earned it “Pace Setter” slogan
and being used till today.
However, being the pace setter in these areas have not translated to
being a pace-setter in technological innovation and tech hubs development in
the last decade. Lagos has been the vanguard in this regard for years, which
has led to the
migration of the capable hands from the city (Ibadan) and others to Lagos.
Our checks shown that from the military governments to the democratic governments,
stakeholders and professionals in the technology segment of the Information and
Communication industry have been promised and still being assured for enabling
policies and environment for advancement of the technology ecosystem in the
state, especially in the capital.
During his administration, Senator
Abiola Ajimobi said he has made the state the intellectual capital of
Nigeria by transforming the state to a knowledgeable based through a tripod of
development he put in place to restore the state’s glory. The current governor,
Engineer
Seyi Makinde has equally promised to make the state the fastest growing
economy in the country, leveraging his four pillars of the Government as
including Health, Education, Security and Economic expansion through
Agricultural value chain.
The Tech Ecosystem
Our checks
further reveal that these statements are better described as political
statements that lack the will to convert them into fruition because the growth
of the tech ecosystem has remained stagnant in the last few years. The state only
has two
government-sponsored hubs. Since 2011, private
individuals have been the key players in hub creation and sustainability,
most importantly in Ibadan. From that year to this year, Wennovation, LPI
Innovation, ALF Tech, iBridge, Ecco and SteinServe are the hubs serving the
youths and startup owners’ interest.
With the
slow growth, it has appeared that state would not be able to capture value from
the growing
data economy. In the absence of the political will, we discovered that individuals
and corporate organisations are deepening the ecosystem through various
programmes and initiatives. There have been series
of tech meet ups in Ibadan, Ogbomoso, Oyo and other cities in the north
part of the state. In 2017, startup
founders, entrepreneurs and other players in the tech industry converged at
Latitude Lounge, Ventura Mall Ibadan and discussed the way forward for the ecosystem.
A year later, MTN
through its foundation trained 500 youths on ICT and Business Skills.
What is Missing?
Infoprations
analysis indicates that two factors are impacting the growth of the tech ecosystem
in the state. As stated earlier, the successive and current governments are still
playing with the sector. The needed support has not been given to the emerging
hubs. When the need to train indigenes and residents digital and technological
skills arises, favouritism and regionalism crept in. For instance, previous programmes
and initiatives have largely been concentrated in Ibadan, Ogbomoso and Oyo
cities at the neglect of other cities and towns, where a number of youths are
idle.
As we
enter another decade, Owojori Ernest Tolulope, one of the
emerging Data Scientists in the state, says “For now, the government has
not been involved. We hope they do so soon as their intervention will greatly
improve our ecosystem here in Ibadan.”
From the
preliminary results of our Ibadan Data Economy and Emerging Data Scientists,
we have equally understood that data science has been pervading business and government
affairs without exception of Oyo State. In line with the trend, over 90% of our
52 emerging Data Scientists believe that there is a future for Artificial
Intelligence in Ibadan.
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