Sanwo-Olu spoke during a courtesy visit by the President, Global Affairs, Meta Platforms Inc. (Facebook), Sir. Nick Clegg at the Lagos House, Marina.

The areas of mutual interest between Lagos State and Meta Platform will include digital marketing scholarships for Lagosians, open source technology for training of young innovators in Artificial Intelligence, tools for local businesses to help develop their businesses among several other areas of partnership.

Speaking during the courtesy visit, Governor Sanwo-Olu reiterated his administration’s commitment to ease of doing business, saying the State Government would continue to leverage its rules and regulations for businesses to do well.

Governor Sanwo-Olu said the state sees technology as an enabler for the country to catch up with the first world economy.

He promised that Lagos would, in years to come, become human capital centre of the world.

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He said: “We see a huge opportunity in the future of work and growth. One of the things we want Lagos to be remembered for in the next 10, 15 years, is to be the human capital of the world. If Facebook needs 500,000 to one million people, you can come to Lagos. If Microsoft needs a million people for the next 10 years, we can help with that.

“We are creating an enabling environment for the likes of Meta Platform to come in. We are developing the system and an economy where we don’t want to starve businesses but we want to create a platform where your businesses can thrive and grow.

“With the very energetic population of young people who are very creative, innovative, audacious and willing to learn, explore and innovate, we believe Lagos should be one of the resource partners that Meta Platform should be speaking to.”

Speaking earlier, Sir. Nick Clegg pledged Meta Platform’s readiness to work in close collaboration with the Lagos State Government to deepen the digital space.

Clegg commended Governor Sanwo-Olu’s administration for creating the enabling environment for growth of technology and innovation for the people of Lagos State.

He said Meta Platform, which is also into investment in physical infrastructure to help connect people and communities, was ready to work with Lagos State and the nation as a whole.

Clegg said his organisation would help young Nigerians and Lagosians in particular who want to earn a living online by monetising their creative efforts.

“We are ready to work with your team. We are looking for partnership with Nigerians, developers, creators and entrepreneurs who can use technology to develop their own businesses, research and applications,” he said.

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The Information Officer of the local government, Mr Tasiu Yahaya, confirmed the incident in a statement issued on Thursday in Kano.

Yahaya said another 28 children were also infected with the disease.

“Four children have been confirmed dead while 28 others infected with Diphtheria in Minjibir Local Government of Kano State.

“The 28 children contracted the disease in the towns of Kwarkiya, Kuru, Kunya and Minjibir.

“The Interim Management Officer of the local government, Muhammad Yakubu Kunya, has called on the authorities and stakeholders to immediately reach out to Minjibir local government to protect the health of the community.

“On his part, the district head of the local government urged traditional rulers and the scholars to stand up in enlighten the community and to pray for relief from the disease,” the statement reads.

When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the Health Ministry,  Mr Abdullahi Ibrahim, said that the case had been referred to the Director for Public Health for further investigation and confirmation.

Source: NAN

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Speaking when he received a delegation from Meta Platforms Incorporated, led by Sir Nick Clegg, former UK Deputy Prime Minister and Meta’s President of Global Affairs, at the State House in Abuja on Thursday, the president said Nigeria could not afford to be left behind in this age of technological advancements; hence, his administration was opening up channels of opportunities in information and communications technology, deepening capacity, and fostering partnerships.

In view of his administration’s 3MTT programme, which is training three million Nigerian youths in digital technology and essential skills before deploying them to innovation hubs across the nation, the president emphasized that Nigerian youths are the most critical asset in Nigeria’s arsenal as it moves to achieve digital economic expansion.

“For us in Nigeria, we have a vibrant, gifted and resourceful youth population. Recognizing that the future is most likely to be AI-enabled, we have to prepare our youths and make them ready to compete and participate in the global economy.

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“I can assure you that Nigeria is open for business. We want to lead the African continent in digital technology. Data is valuable to our development. We are ready to cooperate on technological advancements. It is the only way to go. We need a collaboration that will be a win-win for all,” Tinubu said.

Emphasising the importance of technology in driving small businesses, the president said he was committed to ensuring that technology was deployed, adapted, enhanced, and used to catalyze growth across a vast majority of micro businesses, spurring mass prosperity down the line.

“What interests me is the use of technology in the development of small businesses. We need to make the business environment more conducive for you and more profitable for us as well. I hope we can collaborate and continue to promote our mutual interests,” Tinubu told the delegation.

Earlier in his remarks, Sir Clegg thanked the president for an executive order he issued, which enabled the landing of the Meta-backed deep-sea cable in Nigeria.

“It is an extraordinary infrastructure project. When it comes on stream in the first quarter of 2025, it will be twice as much as the capacity of all subsea cables that exist. We buried the cable 50 per cent deeper than any other subsea cables under the seabed. It is more powerful and more extensive in terms of its geographical connectivity. It could yield up to 37 billion dollars worth of increase in economic activity in the next two or three years across the African continent,” he said.

Sir Clegg also said Meta introduce in June 2024 a feature on its Instagram app that will allow Nigerian creators to monetise their content to enable them to earn a living using the app.

“We have a lot to do with Nigeria to deepen partnerships,” he added.

Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, said Meta platforms were critical platforms in Nigeria, and as such opportunities for partnerships and engagement were essential to promoting development in the digital economy sector.

“We must continue to engage to create opportunities for our people so they can also share in global prosperity. Digital technology is an opportunity to connect Africa to contribute to the development of the world,” the minister said.

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