Nigeria’s growing innovation ecosystems are capable of driving industrial diversification and economic resilience, Pastor Poju Oyemade has said.
Oyemade is the Senior Pastor and Founder of the Covenant Nation, a ministry headquartered in Lagos.
At the Fourth Convocation Lecture of the Trinity University, Yaba, Lagos, on Thursday, Oyemade, who was represented by Dr Yemi Oshinaike, an Associate Pastor at the Covenant Nation, spoke on: ‘Innovation Key to the Future.
He said that Nigerian youths should see their certificates as licences to innovate.
“Wherever you go in the world, your innovative capacity will be tested as a survival skill,” he said.
According to him, innovation emerges when knowledge, imagination, courage and action converge to create practical solutions.
He said that innovation remained a defining force across human civilisation, shaping survival, productivity and societal progress.
The pastor said that disruptions caused by Artificial Intelligence should be addressed from the viewpoint of a positive creator instead of displacer of labour.
Oyemade said that innovation would continue to be a consistent driver of human advancement.
He said that the Fourth industrial revolution, driven by Artificial Intelligence, robotics and interconnected systems, would continue as a trend of disruption and transformations across industries.
“The greatest fear today is that of Artificial Intelligence being a net displacer of labour, whereas it should be addressed from the viewpoint of a positive creator,” Oyemade said.
He said that the emergence of Artificial Intelligence has made employers to prioritise adaptable problem-solvers with critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and digital literacy skills increasingly rewarded in today’s knowledge-driven economy.
He highlighted collaboration as a crucial but often under-estimated driver of innovation, requiring individuals to integrate diverse perspectives and work collectively to solve complex challenges.
“Innovation frequently emerges from the interaction of the analytical mind, the collaborative mindset and the entrepreneurial mind, all working together.” he said.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the event and Editorial Board Chairman of the Nation Newspaper, Mr Sam Omatseye, said that education should not be taken for granted.
He urged the graduating students to be focused, purposeful and optimistic.
(NAN)
