Recently, in our country Nigeria a lot of sectors and industries have started embracing technology. Few years ago Nigerians were barely interested in technological development but today the reverse is the case. The very interesting part of this tech revolution is the emergence of tech and business hubs in some part of the country.
A revolution like this is expected to be encouraged by society leaders at different levels ranging from federal government down to local government but the opposite has been what we see. Some of our leaders have woken up to the new age and others are still deeply asleep.
I have been recently following a lot of news and reports on business and tech hubs in different part of Nigeria. At first it was as doe it’s just in Lagos state that this hubs existed, before long I heard of a co-working spaces in Jos, Akwa Ibom and most recently Akure. I looked deeply at the opportunities these hubs are offering young people with awesome ideas. The big question now, why are these hubs only available in very few states and largely privately owned?
I wouldn’t be able to speak so much about other states but I have a reasonable knowledge of my birth city Port Harcourt.
Port Harcourt is one of the very few metropolitan cities in Nigeria but it’s regrettable that there is really not so much the state has to offer right now. Comparing it to Uyo city, the remarkable turnaround the city experienced in the last five years is one that is worth emulating. The city went from being a local city to a beautiful paradise for tourist and investors, currently it has two amazing hubs that are helping young entrepreneurs develop awesome ideas.
My concern is largely on Port Harcourt. One of the most dissatisfying thing in Port Harcourt is the high priority young people place on politicians over their future. Young people in Port Harcourt are so willing to sacrifice their precious lives to help a visionless politician achieve his personal interests.
On the other hand, they are highly concerned about sharing community lands and money from oil companies.
Port Harcourt can potentially produce business moguls and tech innovators because it experienced the wave of industrialization very early.
This is not another write-up to spell out problems but a call to awakening of the young people in Port Harcourt, Rivers state. Before this article I did a lot of research and discovered Port Harcourt has a wonderful Hub that has been existing for about three years now but has very little presences in the city.
Let us together work to support our hub and create new hubs, host mega business conferences, attract investors and grow our state’s revenue. We have to quit waiting for our leaders and so called wealthy people in the state. The future belongs to us and it takes us and us alone to decide the outcome. We have to quit offering ourselves as weapons for political wars, we have to stop tying our future to peanuts we receive from oil companies, and we can together build the rivers of our dream. There are already amazing young people doing amazing things lets come together and develop our state.
Do not forget our future is in our hands, not in the hands of our political leaders nor oil companies but in our hands.
WAKE UP MY FELLOW RIVERS BORN OR RIVERS INDIGENES!
Article by a great Rivers Indigene, Paul Confidence.
