The Ogun State government has sought the support of the University in fostering agricultural production in the gateway state. The need for the partnership was made known by the Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, at the 3rd International Conference on Applied Information Technology (AIT. 2019), hosted by the Department of Computer Science of FUNAAB, in conjunction with the Nigeria Computer Society.

Speaking through his Chief of Staff, Alhaji Shuaib Salisu, the governor said the state was set to accord agriculture its pride of place. He disclosed that the state government recently employed 10,000 youths across the state and gave them one hectare each, to cultivate with other supports in terms of services and getting buyers that would purchase the end-products. The governor solicited the assistance and support of the University, to help drive the project by making technical inputs available to students that are working on the farmlands allotted, pledging that government was poised towards using technology to drive development. He charged scholars and members of the academia to focus on projects that would contribute to societal development, saying “We need lecturers, who inspire students to look at things that would bring solutions to our immediate environment”.

Speaking on technological advancement, Prince Abiodun noted that the state was not resting on its oars, as it had floated the ‘Ogun Tech Hub’ in one of the model schools in the state. He appealed to FUNAAB students studying computer science or related courses, to feel free to walk into the tech-hub and show their creativity and ideas that could bring about solutions to the myriads of problems facing the society. “The state would provide you with funding, and through the tech-hub link, you would push your ideas to Microsoft and Google”, he added. He commended the Nigeria Computer Society and the Department of Computer Science of FUNAAB for working together at building a solid future.