The Ondo State Government has commended the outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari for signing the “Nigeria Startup Bill” into law before handing over power, saying its domestication would generate massive employment opportunities for the Nigerian youths.
It specifically noted that the Act will contribute to the creation of an enabling environment for the growth, attraction, and protection of investment in tech startups across the 18 Local Council Areas of Ondo.
Speaking at the weekend, the Chairman of the State Information Technology Agency (SITA), Mr Olumbe Akinkugbe, said that the Act would provide an innovation hub and technology park that could help support structures that will allow startups to thrive in Nigerian economy.
Mr Akinkugbe, who spoke at a sensitisation programme ahead of domesticating the act among tech business owners in Ondo, noted that lawmakers of the House of Assembly are already engaging in its good benefit to the youth of the state.
He added that Governor Rotimi Akeredolu led administration in the state takes entrepreneurship important, stressing that young people should have learned about the Startup Act.
“No doubt, it is going to have an extreme impact on the communities in Ondo state and we have already taken certain initiatives towards encouraging entrepreneurs within the state.
“Now what this one will do is create a formal arrangement and institutionalize the issue of technology growth among our entrepreneurs in the state.
“We hope that the Ondo state House of Assembly will be able to give positive feedback as to the timeline after this engagement. Besides, it would also help people to set up a business in the state,” he said.
Earlier, the State Adoption Lead of the Nigeria Startup Act, Ms Tracy Okoro said the Startup Act was initiated to create an enabling environment for tech companies to thrive in the country.
Okoro added that initiators are aware that entrepreneurs are the ones that provide economic prosperity for the nation, stressing that the benefit could only be harnessed when the state legislature keyed into it.
According to her, Ondo state ecosystem engagement was one among the series of States the group had been engaging since the birth of the startup act for the benefit of the youth.
She said, “The implementation and process have started but till the state adopts the startup act they would not be able to fully enjoy the benefit of technology in the ways that have been coming into the country.
“So, we are here to make an argument on why the state should work with us. At the end of the day, tech companies in Ondo state can support and find the solution to the economic prosperity in Ondo state.
“It is a law that at the end of the day we want it to be passed into law, which we believe that technology companies in Ondo state will now have the backing to access things like funding, and digital training for them to be able to compete with their mate all over the country.
“We have gathered people from different government sectors and organisations for this important purpose because we need their support and collaboration and once we finished this engagement we will work straight with the Attorney General of the state to produce the draft bill that this ecosystem be passed into the law.”
Recall that the Nigerian Startup Act also known as the Nigerian Innovation and Entrepreneurship Act was passed by the National Assembly and signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on the 19th of October, 2022.
The law aims to support and promote innovation and entrepreneurship in Nigeria, particularly addressing youth unemployment.
