Obaseki Lauds Vp For Impetus To Start A Tech Park In Benin

As the Edo State Government churns out a batch of young graduates of its innovative Edo Tech Park, Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has commended Vice President Yemi Osinbajo for sowing the seed that has produced the take-off of the Park, including the planned permanent site.

The Edo State Governor was speaking earlier today when the Vice President visited the State to commission the Federal Government Furniture Production Shared Facility In Edo State under the National MSMEs Clinic Scheme and also lay the foundation of the park’s permanent site.

Speaking at the foundation laying ceremony, Governor Obaseki said to the VP “Three years ago when you gave us the first innovation hub in the South-South. That mustard seed you sowed that day is what you saw at the take off campus of the Benin Tech Park, which you visited and met the first set of graduands. And that deed is what has brought us here this afternoon and it’s been germinated to reflect where we want to be as a people.”

Recall that Governor Obaseki in November this year had inaugurated the Edo Tech Park, stating that the state government aims to transform Edo into technology outsourcing centre in Africa.

According to its objectives, the Edo Tech Park aims to become an elite software engineering and leadership-training institute that will produce thousands of global tech talents in the next five years both for local and international markets.

The Governor stated that the Tech park would not have been possible without the support of Osinbajo.

“As I shared with you in the car this afternoon, we cannot envisage without technology, it’s all about technology today. And as a government we want to align our future, the future of our children in Edo, with the reality of today. This would not have been possible without your support.

“We want to express our gratitude and to let you know as you go back to Abuja that we believe in the digital policy of our federal government, and as a sub-national, we will do all we can within our power to begin to exemplify how this process can work, and whatever assistance that can be rendered to us by the Federal Government, we will truly appreciate.

The Governor went further to thank Osinbajo for honoring the State government’s invitation, noting that the Vice President will look back at this occasion with gratitude because it was the Federal Government digital policy spearheaded by the VP that produced it.

“We cannot promise that you will come and cut the tape before May 29, 2023, but we believe God almighty that you will look back and say, yes you started with the Lord, look at what policy has produced for us. Once again, thank you very much, Your Excellency,” Obaseki said.

Earlier the Vice President had opened number 5 in the plan of the Federal Government to open one Shared Facility per State for the use of MSMES who had requested for such support during the MSMES Clinics across the country spearheaded by the Vice President since the first term of the Buhari administration.

According to the Vice President there will be at least 8 more Shared Facility added to the 5 by early next year. Already there are now Shared Facility in Anambra, Benue, Lagos, Owerri and today Benin was added to the list.

A shared facility is a place where the government provides various equipment and machines for a particular type of trade or business for use by businesses located in that environment.

The Vice President listed the Shared Facility opened so far thus in his speech today in Edo State where he opened the 5th such Facility, a furniture making equipment center in Benin:

•In Benue State, we have built a 200,000 capacity Yam Storage facility, at the Zaki Biam International Yam Market, the largest yam market in Africa, and possibly in the world.

•In Lagos State, we built the Eko MSME Fashion Hub 1 (one) around Allen Avenue which services about 300 tailors and fashion designers daily.

•The Anambra State Facility is in Ogbunike, Oyi, it is a shoemaking facility with industrial equipment and machines within close proximity of the Anambra shoe-makers cluster.”

*Just three days ago, we commissioned the Shared Facility in Owerri, Imo State which is dedicated to fashion and comprises 200 world class manual and fully automated fashion equipment.

The VP also released  “a calendar to commission other Shared Facilities as follows:

•The Shared Facility for Kaduna State is located within Soba Tomato cluster in Soba Local Government Area of the State.

•The Kebbi State Facility located in Birnin-Kebbi, Kebbi State, will provide 2 lines of rice milling machinery to assist rice farmers to also mill their rice and benefit more from the rice production value chain.

•The Ogun Shared Facility will be located within the popular Adire Market in Abeokuta.

•Ebonyi State Facility located within the Uburu Industrial Cluster in Uburu, Ebonyi State. Machines are being made for the production of various types of footwear and leather works for shoe-makers in Ebonyi State.

•Kano State Facility is located within the Kano Metropolis of the State for various types of footwear and leather works for shoe-makers in the State.

•The Katsina State Facility will cater for Tomato farmers within the State through the provision of modern machinery for the production of tomato paste.

•The Ekiti State Facility will cater for cocoa farmers through the provision of machinery for the processing of cocoa in cocoa flour.

•The Bauchi State Facility is expected to be located around Azare in the State and will cater for groundnut farmers through the provision of modern groundnut oil milling plants.