The Lagos State Deputy Governor, Obafemi Hamzat has charged the newly-constituted Lagos State Science, Research & Innovation Council (LASRIC), to come up with innovations and research that will focus on solving local challenges.
The Deputy Governor, who gave the charge at the inauguration of the council, over the weekend, in Lagos, also announced a seed fund of N1billion to the council, to help in its tasks of harnessing the entrepreneurial potential that abound in the state.
Hamzat stated since its inauguration in 2019, LASRIC has been able to create over 5,000 jobs and create opportunities for several start- ups in the state.
He explained that the decision of the state to increase the grant to N1 billion was to enable more individuals and businesses be part of the project.
“While I congratulate you on this inauguration, I will however charge you to ensure your activities, your research and innovations are geared towards finding lasting solutions to some of the challenges facing the state,” the state’s deputy Governor stated.
Acknowledging the enormity of the tasks ahead of the Council, its Chairman, Professor Olumuyiwa Odusanya, assured the state government of the readiness of members to give the tasks their best shot.
“We’ll work with great minds, great entrepreneurs to further advance the human enterprise. It’s an awesome task placed upon us and we are operating with a lot of deep thoughts on how to sustain the good works of LASRIC”, the Vice Chancellor, Lagos State University of Science and Technology, stated.
One of the newly- appointed members of the Council, and Founder, Eko Innovation Centre, Victor Afolabi, expressed his excitement at being part of an opportunity to help scale and support start ups.
“ see the appointment as an opportunity to do more work, create greater impacts on a bigger stage. Not only are we driving innovation in the private sector, but with the private/ public sector collaboration, we can drive and foster innovation in Lagos State, and across the length and breadth of the country through what LASRIC is doing,” he stated.
Expressing his excitement at the inauguration of the new council, the Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, Lagos State, Olatubosun Alake, assured that four criteria, christened POEM (Proposition, Organisation, Economics and Milestones) have been put in place to ensure a just and fair deployment of the seed fund.
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