Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, a former vice president, has called on the residents of Ikenne, Ogun State, to set a lofty goal of making the town a major center for technology and artificial intelligence in Africa.
Osinbajo took the lead on Friday in Ikenne while giving a speech at the Ikenne Development Association’s (IDA) 50th Ereke Day Anniversary, Community Awards, and Investiture of 2026 Ambassadors.
Regarding the ancient town’s future, the former vice president stated that AI will define the next ten and fifty years, and Ikenne has what it takes to be at the forefront.
He urged the community to have large dreams, pointing out that big changes begin with audacious concepts that many people first question.
He remembered how colonial rulers warned the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo that free education was unattainable, but he disproved their claims. He also mentioned ValueJet Airlines, which is owned by Kunle Soname, the son of Ikenne. He said that many people would have rejected the idea ten years ago that locals might take a morning flight from Ikenne Axis to Abuja and return the same day.
Even without intentional planning, Osinbajo claims that Ikenne currently has one of the greatest concentrations of small and medium-sized businesses per square kilometre and could accomplish more with a defined strategy.
As a result, he put up the Ikenne 2036 Plan, a 10-year development plan with specified priorities, expenses, and annual, quantifiable goals.
According to Osinbajo, in addition to the current curriculum, the strategy should establish Ikenne as a hub for AI-enabled education and the development of AI technologies.
In order to demonstrate that vision and drive are more important than size, he used Taiwan, a little island located about 81 miles from China that currently manufactures a significant portion of the world’s microchips.
He suggested a comprehensive STEAM curriculum (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) including robotics, AI-powered learning tools, well-equipped labs, and early introduction of AI literacy from primary school in order to accomplish the goal.
He mentioned a Maiduguri learning center where, given the chance and assistance, insurgency-orphaned children who could not speak Hausa or English at first became proficient in robotics, technology, and English in just five years.
Osinbajo emphasised the need to develop a campus devoted to AI and cutting-edge systems that would offer solutions in agriculture, healthcare, education, and finance, collaborate with Chinese schools that have robust AI curricula, and retrain instructors as facilitators of AI-assisted learning and robotics.
He exhorted the community to go after what others had not dared, rather than settling for modest goals.