Vice President Kashim Shettima will on April 7 launch Africa’s first University Innovation Pods at the University of Lagos as part of efforts to reposition universities as drivers of innovation and enterprise development.
Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, disclosed this at a press conference held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Hadejia said the initiative, known as UniPods, is a project of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the Federal Government.
He explained that the initiative aims to reconfigure Nigeria’s development architecture by transforming universities into engines of innovation, enterprise creation and skills development.
According to him, the UniPods initiative underscores the Federal Government’s commitment to repositioning Nigerian universities as drivers of economic growth, innovation and enterprise development.
He added that the project is designed to address the disconnect between formal education and labour market outcomes by equipping students with relevant digital and entrepreneurial skills.
A State House Correspondent, Abdurrahman Jibrila, reported that the initiative is not merely an infrastructure intervention but a deliberate step toward building a coherent national innovation system linking talent, research, industry and investment.
He noted that the rollout would commence with the University of Lagos Artificial Intelligence Pod, while additional UniPods would be established in Abia, Akwa Ibom, Nasarawa, Benue and Borno states.
Hadejia further stated that Nigeria aims to scale the initiative to more than 50 universities nationwide and provide over 500,000 learners with advanced digital and artificial intelligence skills.
