Onofiok Luke: A'IBOM MUST COMPETE WITH CONTEMPORARIES IN ICT DEVELOPMENT BY UBONG INYANG

Advocates training of Akwa Ibom indigenes to replace foreign experts



The Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly Barrister Onofiok Luke has raised the need for a focused development of the state in the area of Information and Communication Technology, adding the the state has what it takes to be at par with contemporaries, technology wise.

Barrister Luke said this, Tuesday, when he played host to the Akwa Ibom State Tech-Ecosystem group which consists of technology oriented individuals in the state held in his office at the House of Assembly complex.

Reiterating his desire to enact laws that will encourage creative innovations in the state and help develop the economy, Luke stressed that the dearth of white collar jobs is enough reason for the youths to be creative so as to guarantee the availability of several alternatives to the problem of unemployment.

This, he said will not only put food on their table, but will help develop the state in the area of ICT, and could as well help solve some social problems in the state, such as assisting security agencies in combatting crime. The five star lawmaker added that he is passionate about ensuring an enabling environment for them and also provide enactments that will help them with their innovations.

"I am an advocate for creative innovations and I keep saying that it is the way to go due to the dearth of white collar jobs and through these  innovations, you all will put food on your tables and improve the economy of the state as a whole" he said.

The Speaker further called for partnership and collaboration amongst technologists in the state to produce something that will help solve social, agricultural and crime related problems in the state as well as traffic management.

Towards encouraging youths in the area of technology, Barrister Luke revealed that he has made laptop donations to a number of his constituents who showed interest in learning web design and programming which will kick start in June adding that the beneficiaries were obtained based on merit not politically influenced.

"Individually, I have made lap top donations to people in my place who have approached me to express their interest in learning web design and programming and it is based on merit not politically influenced" he added.

Barrister Luke also stated his plans to get some Akwa Ibom people trained on biomedical equipment servicing driven by the fact that some expensive medical facilities in the state are packed up without a serious fault in it adding that instead of bringing in foreign technicians, Akwa Ibomites should be trained on how to repair them.

In the area of hardware repairs, the speaker further revealed that he has partnered with Nox Computers to to train 60 people on printer and monitor repairs. "In the area of hardware repairs, I partnered with Nox Computers to and 60 people are being trained on printer and monitor repairs and that is the passion I have about technology development in the state" he said.

The Speaker also revealed plans to hold an interactive session with the technologists in the state so as to know their challenges and also offer assistance as finance is also a major impediment in their quest to achieve their dreams.

Earlier in his address, leader of the team, Mr. Ubong Nsekpong was hopeful the visit will be turning point for ICT Innovations in Akwa Ibom State. "Our faith in the outcome of this meeting is spurred by your antecedents and we believe every second with you here will form part of our records when depositing the story of the evolution of ICT in Akwa Ibom State in our various databases", he added.

"I trust that as one of the finest and of course the youngest speaker we are opportune to have in the State, you will want to place Akwa Ibom State on the international radar through laws made while you reigned as the speaker.  Therefore, overlooking the few States like Lagos and Kaduna State in Nigeria who seems to be ahead of us – IT wise, we will request the 6th Assembly to make laws that will facilitate the funding of tech StartUps in Akwa Ibom State by the Akwa Ibom State government.

"It will interest you to know Hon. Speaker, that most tech projects in this state are executed by tech companies outside Akwa Ibom State mostly Lagos State.  This is saddening because while we give excuses for such negligence, we are daily upgrading the profiles of these companies at the detriment of tech companies based in Uyo. Therefore Hon. Speaker, we will be happy if the 6th Assembly can make laws that will help corporations operating in Akwa Ibom State, government and her agencies give out these tech related contracts to Akwa Ibom State based tech companies, he said further.

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