Emma Okonji
The federal government, last week, began the construction of the Sustainable and Emerging Technologies Institute (SETI), through the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI).
The Executive Vice Chaiman/Chief Executive Officer of NASENI, Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu, during the ground-breaking ceremony held at the Bayero University Kano (BUK), said the new institute would 30 hectares of the BUK land, featuring state-of-the-art facilities, including innovation hubs devoted to Artificial Intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies, complemented by reliable power supply.
“NASENI will fully build and equip and support the new Institute,” Halilu said, adding that the future of socio-economic development for nations rests on human creativity, innovation and cooperation, Artificial intelligence, robotics amongst others.
According to him, the establishment of SETI in Nigeria is to rapidly respond to the waves of young people globally revolutionising world economies with unprecedented emergence of socio-economic frontiers as by-products of innovations and ingenuities of these young minds.
“We in NASENI are firm believers in the potential of young Nigerians to be the prime catalysts of the type of transformation that Nigeria requires. And we will do everything within our powers to support them to fulfil this important responsibility.
“We are gathered here today to kickstart a project that will transform the lives and careers of future generations of young Nigerians. This is very much in line with our operating principles; what we call our 3Cs: Collaboration, Creation, and Commercialisation. These 3Cs are the principles that passionately drive us and guide the work that we do to ensure the industrialisation of Nigeria in line with the Renewed Hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Halilu further said.
SETI will produce innovators, technologists, entrepreneurs who will make their mark not just in Nigeria but around the world. “I’m eagerly looking forward to the day, not too long from now, when the Institute’s first set of beneficiaries will astonish the world with what they’re capable of accomplishing. These stories will put not just BUK on the global innovation map, but also Kano State and the entire Nigeria,” Halilu added.
In his goodwill message, the Vice Chancellor of BUK, Professor Sagir Adamu Abbas, described the new institute as a vehicle for bringing together the three critical tripods for economic and sustainable development for nations, that is, the government, academia and industry. He described the ground-breaking event as the beginning of Nigeria’s journey in pursuit of sustainable development, massive job creation opportunities for the youths, and that the BUK was delighted to be host to such laudable initiative and momentum.
