Lagos ready to drive your passion, Sanwo-Olu tells young CEOs in tech space

…charts inclusion, partnership in chat with youth entrepreneurs

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has narrated how at 24, he initiated a disruptive shift in the plumbing sector, which revolutionised the vocation and aided its transition from the trade of unskilled artisans to professional occupation.

Speaking with dozens of under-35 young executives in Lagos tech space, telecommunications, fintech, banking, arts and creative industry, health, agric and logistics sectors at the Rafkatu Hall in The Wheatbaker in Ikoyi, Sanwo-Olu said as a young fresh graduate in early 1990s, he incorporated “Dial The Plumber” – an engineering and business-centric coy that leveraged the limited telephone technology of the period to create hands-on solutions in plumbing ecosystem for the growing oil industry in the Niger Delta.

He said the disruption created huge opportunities for local skilled plumbers until the mid-1990s when advanced technology swept through the sector and created a wide knowledge gap for local professionals.

With no government incentive and support for up-skilling, the firm had the market out of its reach and became disadvantaged.

The robust conversation Governor Sanwo-Olu had with the young CEOs on Thursday, offered a relaxed ambience for the engagement tagged “Meet and Greet: In Conversation with Mr. Governor”, organised by the Senior Special Assistant to Sanwo-Olu on Development Partnership and Economic Planning, Ayisat Agbaje.

It was the second in the series of the strategic engagements the governor had with innovative millennials in the private sector to foster the administration’s objectives of promoting youth inclusion in public governance through deliberate partnership and collaboration.

Sanwo-Olu said his “Dial The Plumber” start-up idea, came 10 years ahead of its time, stressing that the innovation could have been fully activated and sustained job opportunities for the then young skilled plumbers, carpenters and IT professionals had GSM revolution in Nigeria happened in the early 1990s.

From his interaction with the young tech disruptors, Sanwo-Olu said he could visualised a lot of possibilities through the minds of the participants, assuring that his government was ready to take forward the conversation through interventions.

He said: “In the space of 32 years, we have seen advancement in digital technology, which has created a lot of opportunities across sectors. We believe you young people of today have a lot of creative and innovative ideas that can change our society and bring us in tandem with modernity. We are having this conversation because we don’t want these brilliant ideas and energy to exist only in your minds; we want to create an avenue for partnership where the government can initiate necessary interventions, so that you won’t feel discouraged and be at disadvantage. 

“The intervention could come in terms of government incentives, encouragement, public policies, funding or bringing your creative ideas in contact with investors to take them up for full activation. Our Government in Lagos is about giving support to young people to nurture their dreams to reality. Many start-ups were not opportune to have opportunity of technology decades ago. My own start-up idea came 10 years ahead of its time. If there was GSM revolution in the 1990s, the idea would have been fully activated. My charge is that, you must first believe in yourselves and ensure your creative ideas are genuine. As responsive Government, we are ever ready to partner with you in driving your passion.”

Sanwo-Olu said Lagos could not afford to lay back in taking the advantage of young people’s innovations, noting that the disruption caused by global pandemic had effects in food supply chain, nature of work and access to medical services.

Lagos, the governor said, was able to turn around the challenges, given the creative solutions encouraged by the State Government through youth innovators.

The governor took the participants on achievements recorded across his administration’s THEMES agenda, especially the ongoing rollout of smart city capability of the State to deliver a resilient 21st century megacity with functioning integrated urban mass transportation system.

Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Sam Egube, gave a projection of the future development Lagos was working towards.

He said Lagos was running on a big vision that situated its development activities in group of developed economies. 

Agbaje, said the programme was initiated on the desire of Sanwo-Olu to meet young people doing outstanding work to drive economic development in the State.

Some of the participants had the opportunity to share their transformational ideas with the governor in the segment tagged: “The Lagos I See”.

Hanu Fejiro Agbodje, founder of Patricia – a Fintech company focusing on blockchain technology who was named Vanguard ’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2021, shared story of how he hit gold with his Patricia dream, having failed 13 times to build at start-up stage.

Others are Anthony Azekwoh, a digital artist who lives and works in Lagos; Folake Owodunni, CEO of Emergency Response Africa, and co-founder of Hook Creative Agency, Toheeb Balogun.