Young people who are tech-savvy are needed conquer challenges -FG

This was said on Thursday during the Federal University of Technology, Akure's 33rd convocation lecture by Dr. Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy.

The minister said that in order for the nation to advance, three crucial industries that have been utilized to calculate the GDP since 1980—agriculture, manufacturing, and services—had to be recognized and developed.

The minister stated that technology universities need to step up to the challenges of the nation's rapid technological growth in his address, "Knowledge and research as a foundation for prosperous economy."

Tijani called on students to embrace self-investment and asserted that with advancing technology, universities ought to be employment producers.

"With the level of water body we have, fishery is not growing; we are dependent on fish imports," he stated.Though not as much as we had anticipated, financial institutions have performed extremely well. As one person put it, "We are not applying knowledge and innovation; we are expecting to fish like our forefathers did in the last years."

"The forest industry faces similar challenges; attending university should not be limited to obtaining a degree; knowledge should be created and shared in a way that benefits the nation as a whole."

Prior to this, FUTA Vice Chancellor Prof. Adenike Oladiji stated that the celebration began last week and that the minister's invitation was one of the events planned to commemorate the 33rd anniversary.

Oladiji stated that the purpose of the convocation was to present the institution as a knowledge fortress and express gratitude for having brought the minister to Akure for the first time.

NAAN