Tunde Sholanke
Mr Kola Balogun, Chairman,Momas Electricity Meters Manufacturing Company Ltd. (MEMMCOL), has called on the Federal Government to license more meter manufacturers to bridge the metering gap in the country.
Balogun, who spoke at the graduation ceremony of 10 youths on a five-week Printed Circuit Board (PCB) training course in Lagos on Thursday,also advised the government to continue to encourage local companies sufficiently or allow consumers to be able to buy meters on their own.
He added:“If they can buy meters on their own, we will be able to invest.This means we should be licensed and most of the enterprises that are sustainable today are licensed enterprise.License meter manufacturers, so that we will be able to reach more users”.
According to him, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and development banks must seek ways of directly funding manufacturers, with a view to reducing unemployment in the country.
He spoke on the training course,saying the PCB fabrication design had never been done in any of the higher institutions or skill acquisition centres in the country.
He explained that the idea behind the training course was to reposition Nigerian youths for the global digital economy.
He said: “Nigerians are known to be users of computers and telephone, but we do not manufacture these things.We are using this platform to be able to train youths to design these digital technologies and the fundamental foundation of designing electronic device is the PCD”
According to him, the graduands have the capacity to design and fabricate for all the global digital industries across the globe.
“They are digital entrepreneurs and engineers and can now fabricate PCB and it is the heart of any electronic device.Our next agenda is to write to most of the universities to send in some of their representatives,” Balogun emphasized .
He said that the company’s efforts in empowering youths and women with skill acquisition, had attracted grant from the German government to establish a skill acquisition institution.
“The grant is for establishing institution for skill acquisition, which PCB will be part of the courses we are going to run.We have a database for all our students, to ensure that they comply with all the regulations in their curriculum.
“So, this will help them hold on to the discipline that is required to sustain what they have learnt.The setback we are having today is that most of the youths are losing their virtues and character that drives good knowledge.We are always preaching virtue, discipline and attitudinal change for us to be able to sustain the knowledge we are imparting on these youths,” he said.
Speaking, Dr Waheed Olagunju, Chairman, One Innovation Hub, said that Nigerians should be well educated, skillful and healthy to eradicate poverty in the country by 2030, stressing that the training speaks to the skill acquisition aspect.
He said: “For any nation to be productive, it needs to be skillful and the skills being imparted will enable them navigate the world better.We are in a knowledge based economy and PCDs are the heart of electronics.
“If we are able to produce PCDs, we will be able to produce anything electronics.This would go a long way to helping us achieving our objective of being a smart city and a smart city will play a critical role in driving the Nigerian economy.
“This is to enable Nigeria play an active role in the international arena that is being driven by the fourth industrial revolution.”
One of the graduands, Mr Lawal Kolawole, lauded MOMAS Group for the initiative, while also calling on other corporate bodies to emulate the initiative to digitalise the Nigerian economy.
He said: “We are thought effective basic components of PCB and the installation.We are exposed to so many applications and appliances to electrical installations and telecommunications systems solutions.
“We are going to impact positively on our community when we return to Offa in Kwara state especially based on what we have been taught here,” he said.