March 13, 2023
The Uniccon Group says the first African humanoid robot ‘Omeife’ will boost learning and aid effectiveness in digital literacy in the country.
The group’s Chairman, Dr Chuks Ekwueme, said this at the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Uniccon on Monday in Abuja.
Ekwueme said that the technological framework (Omeife) that would be deployed to achieve this goal had been designed and customised by Africans, for Africans.
He said this would aid effectiveness, unlike other forms of imported technology that tended to lack adequate consideration of Africans in their development and deployment.
Ekwueme expressed gratitude to the Director-General of NITDA for encouraging local technology content in Nigeria.
He commended the agency for its vision to achieve 95 per cent digital literacy rate in Nigeria by 2030, which was currently the highest target as compared to other African countries.
Ekwueme added: “Omeife as a Service (OaaS) will make learning easier when integrated with the agency’s Learning Management System (LMS).”
Mr Inuwa Kashifu, Director-General of NITDA, represented by Mr Garba Ya’u, Director, National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), said that the relationship was to assist in achieving 95 per cent digital rate in Nigeria by 2030.
Kashifu said the agency and Uniccon would leverage on the technical aspect to bring the project to reality.
He said that they were all thrilled with the indigenous technology that properly fell into the local content drive.
Kashifu added: “We have paid a visit to Unnicon group sometime ago and we had some discussions, they showed us some of their projects apart from Omeife.
“The DG directed that we work with the group to leverage Omeife in deepening the digital literacy content of NITDA and the ministry.
“We want to show absolute inclusion, where no Nigerian will be left behind on the idea.
“Very soon, we will be going into the technical aspect to see how we can bring this to reality.” (NAN)
