The Minister of Communication, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, on Thursday visited his alma mata, Anglican Grammar School, Quarry, Abeokuta, urging the public school students to rise above their humble beginnings and be determined to be the best in life.
Tijani is also a product of public school, saying that “where we come from is both important and should not limit where we are heading.
I was a student in this school, and the lessons learnt in this school shaped and contributed so much to who I am today.”
The minister said that he was at his alma mate to encourage the students and motivate them to be great in life, their humble background notwithstanding.
Tijani unveiled a variety of annual scholarship packages personally instituted by him for 88 students of the school, in addition to adopting a block of classroom and the science laboratory for renovation.
While addressing students at the school, the minister announced a scholarship prize of N100,000, with a laptop each for the top three students at every level from JSS1 to SS3 classes.
This is in addition to clothing 70 others with newly sewn school uniforms every year.
He added that “We have also adopted one of the storey buildings, we are going to furnish it with furniture and equip the classrooms with smart boards.
In the same vein, we have also adopted the Science Lab for a 100 percent renovation and will ensure that it is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment”.
Coming back to the school is also a way of encouraging the students here to believe that their humble beginning of today notwithstanding, they can also become a minister in future, they can become ambassadors, they can become a Governor.
They can shake the world, they can become president, our kids should key into that, because it is the most important thing for them to know that they can turn out to be the best in life”.
Also at another event Tijani said that the Federal Government is currently investing in laying of 90,000km fibre optic cables across the country to improve on internet connectivity and which is quite essential to enhancing wealth and Job creation in the digital economy.
He equally said that the digital economy sector now contributes between 16 to 18% to the country’s Gross Domestic Product and that the plan of President Bola Tinubu’s administration is to take it to 21% so as to create much more job opportunities and wealth within the digital space.
Tijani said that the current administration recognises the power and potentials of technology and has been making deliberate investment in the sector while also empowering the youth through several initiatives such as 3MTT, Buildhaton, construction of innovation and tech hubs across the country.
Speaking during an ‘Innovation and Startups Roundtable’ session he had with youths and technology entrepreneurs and solution providers at the Ogun Tech Community, Abeokuta, the Minister emphasised using the potentials of technology to improve on agricultural practices.
He declared that there was no way Nigeria would produce enough food to feed her citizens without the introduction of technology.
Tijani advocated for a kind of marriage of agriculture with technology that will revolutionize farming to guarantee food security, jobs creation and increased income.
These he said, will also drive prices of food items down and curb needless foreign exchange wastage on imported food – grains, that could easily be produced locally if there is marriage between agriculture and technology.
He urged farmers to leverage on technology to boost food production noting that Ukraine would not have been able to hold on this long in the conflict with Russia if the country was not a major producer of grains using technology.
