Lagos State Government has affirmed its commitment to collaborate with the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, (USA) on the implementation of the Manufacturing Assistance Centre (MAC), to boost the socio-economic and infrastructural development in the State through the building of manufacturing capacity in the State.
Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the state Governor, who was represented by Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, his Deputy, while receiving the Chairman of the University of Pittsburgh Department of Industrial Engineering, Pennsylvania on a courtesy visit to the Deputy Governor’s office, gave the assurance on Thursday.
While expressing his delight at the proposed exercise, he said that the state government is willing to learn from what had been done in Pittsburgh in terms of enhancing manufacturing in the community and getting people together.
Sanwo-Olu stated that Lagos is ready for the partnership with the department, noting that such a partnership would be achieved through capacity building for manufacturing concerns and is very happy with the collaboration.
His words, “In Lagos, we take things seriously. If the government was not interested we would not do it. But we have shown interest. We will make sure it happens and we have the people that will push it because this is how we can plant the tree of development and then pass it down to the students,” he said.
Similarly, Olatunbosun Alake, Special Adviser to the Governor on Innovation and Technology, noted that the MAC project is implemented at the Lagos State University and is in partnership with the University of Pittsburg to drive manufacturing skill capacity in the state through the Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo.
He disclosed that the Manufacturing Assistance Centre will have equipment for the students to learn manufacturing skills and boost manufacturing capacity in the State. He said, “The bedrock of any economy is manufacturing”.
Professor Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, Vice-Chancellor of LASU was also of the view that the collaboration of the Institution with a more experienced University which focuses on manufacturing will be of immense benefit to the people.
She added that the collaboration will help turn unskilled people to skilled personnel, and it will give them opportunities to develop their industries through the Assistance Centre.
She also noted that the centre will help the people of Epe and the Eastern Senatorial Zone of the State in this developmental drive, as the centre will be located in the Epe Campus of the University and will propel the emergence of more industries in the community, while more employment opportunities will be created.
Earlier in his remarks, Professor Bopaya Bidinda Chairman, University of Pittsburgh, Department of Industrial Engineering, Pennsylvania (USA) and Immediate Past President of Industrial Engineers, commended the vision of the government on transformative change in the state and in the education system saying “This collaboration is about reaching out to the community and for better living”.
He noted that Industrial Engineering Techniques make processes faster and better and that it adds value to a process by making it work more efficiently and has been embraced in developed countries.
He added that the United Nations economy significantly benefits from using Industrial Engineering Techniques.
He, therefore, urged for the support of the government not just in material support but also in policies to drive the initiative.
