Senator Adetokunbo Abiru (Lagos East) has supported start-ups with grants. He gave the grants at the graduation and demo day of Business 101 for Creatives and Artisans (Cohort 001) participants of the Senator Abiru Innovation Lab (SAIL).
Of 47 individuals who enrolled for the training, 41 completed the three-month business training handled by the technical partner of SAIL, the Co-creation Hub (Cc-Hub). Over 4,000 applied for the five pilot SAIL programmes in the 16 councils in Lagos East, but 150 were shortlisted for the maiden cohort, of which 47 were admitted for the Business 101 for Creatives and Artisans class.
Abiru, who is the Senate committee on Industries, said his Foundation established the Innovation Lab in response to growing unemployment in the country, and also ‘to position the younger generation for the enormous opportunities available in this current fourth industrial revolution’.
He added: “We know that Nigeria has faced unprecedented economic challenges ostensibly caused by recession, shrinking revenues and the COVID-19 pandemic. Having failed to maximise opportunities in the agricultural and industrial ages, now, we are in the digital revolution age, we therefore cannot miss out on the opportunities available in this innovation and digital age.
“This is the rationale behind the establishment of The Senator Abiru Innovation Lab (SAIL). Look around you today, you will discover that the COVID-19 pandemic has made remote working fashionable. Also, the rise in the deployment of robotics and artificial intelligence all point to the fact that we either brace up for technology or we lose out again.”
Managing Partner of the Creative Economy Practice at CcHUB Ojoma Ochai challenged the grandaunts to harness the opportunities in the creative sector.
She said: “I say thank you to Senator Abiru for his investment in developing opportunities for talent to thrive. The creative sector contributes the equivalent of half of Nigeria’s GDP, representing about 3 per cent of global GDP and employs millions around the world and in Nigeria.”
The event also featured a pitch session of 10 aspiring entrepreneurs who pitched their business ideas to a panel of business professionals for seed funding and mentorship.
Senator Abiru doled out a business grant worth N3 million to the top three entrepreneurs who made best business pitches.
The overall winner, John Olisa got N1.5 million, first runner up Jessica Nwobodo got N1 million and the second runner up Esther Ogundare went home with N500,000.