By CHIDIEBERE NWANKWO
Beneficiaries of the Moniepoint ₦3bn University Innovation Hub Initiative have pledged to judiciously use the fund for the cause for which it was meant, and ensure that students of their institutions benefit from the endowment.
Moniepoint, earlier in the week, announced a landmark ₦3 billion commitment to establish three Innovation Hubs across some of Nigeria’s most prestigious federal universities over the next three years.
The universities are the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) Enugu State, the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, Kaduna State, and the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife, Osun State.
Speaking at the event which held at OAU, Ile-Ife, the Vice Chancellor, OAU, Prof. Adebayo Simeon Bamire thanked the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Moniepoint Group, Tosin Eniolorunda for his earlier funding of the Mechanical Engineering Department, and his continued contribution to the development of the institution.
Speaking on the Innovation hub, the VC said: “We are building our own Silicon Valley that is going to reflect an ecosystem we are talking about, to build technologies.
As Moniepoint has come to set up something that will impact the lives of every one of you, I am strongly hoping that as you (the students) use this facility that will open in the next couple of months, the impact on your life will be better, set you up for the future, give you skills and abilities that will allow you contribute to the industry.”
Also speaking, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Advancement, Innovation & Research, ABU, Zaria, Kaduna State, Aliyu Sanusi, representing the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Adamu Ahmed said the gesture will create impact and strengthen innovation. “For us in ABU, your gesture, this investment for the development and establishment of an innovation hub, will go a long way in empowering us. We cant thank you enough, we also thank the great Ife for producing this young man.”
He further enumerated the need for alumni to give back after their experience. “Now he wants to scale it up and give a space where everyone can come together, learn, coordinate, cooperate and innovate, so that they can be like him, and even better than him faster and easier. That is what this man is doing here. He believes that if he invests in these innovation hubs, it will amount to something great.”
The Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academics, UNN, Prof. Kamoru Usman who represented the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Simon Uchenna Ortuanya thanked Tosin Eniolorunda and Moniepoint for this donation.
On behalf of the Vice Chancellor, Uchenna Ortuanya, the Chancellor, Pro Chancellor and the management of the university, we thank you, and we promise to use the fund judiciously. In the next 10 years, when you come to the university, you will be proud that you did something like this. Our philosophy is to seek the truth, teach the truth and preserve the dignity of man. University of Nigeria is the first indigenous University in Nigeria.”
Speaking as the special guest of honour, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Dr. Adeleye Enitan Babatunde Ogunwusi , Ojaja II, Oba of Ife, applauded Tosin and Moniepoint for the gesture and for remembering the universities for good. He however noted that the N1 billion may not be enough to set up and equip the innovation hub, and asked that Moniepoint increase the funding as the project progresses.
In his speech earlier, Tosin said the initiative, which represents one of the most significant private-sector investments in Nigerian higher education in recent memory, will further breed more skilled manpower for the future.
“By launching these Innovation Hubs beginning with OAU, UNN, and ABU Zaria, we are intentionally anchoring world-class technical skills across the country. And this is just the first step as we look across other tertiary institutions. Before we built anything, universities like UNILAG and OAU built people like Felix and I, giving us our first formal training in the disciplines that became our careers.”
Eniolorunda continued: “Nigeria’s future will to a very large extent be built by Nigerians trained in Nigerian institutions. These three Hubs are my contribution to making that future credible by creating a solid pipeline for the emergence of great products and ideas. To truly scale our digital economy, we need high-density, industry-ready tech talent as a bulwark. We are investing these billions of Naira to ensure our tech ecosystem is powered by sustainable, homegrown excellence.”
