Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has said the effort being made by Nigerians in technology can enable the country roll out indigenous technology solutions that can transform the global space.

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has said the effort being made by Nigerians in technology can enable the country roll out indigenous technology solutions that can transform the global space.

Osinbajo stated this during an interactive session with  investors and foreign policy experts on Nigeria’s economic prospects and related matters at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, united States.

During an question and answer session, Osinbajo was asked about the on-going international dispute by some global technology firms on 5G.

Osinbajo, according to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and publicity, Laolu Akande, explained that though Nigeria was yet to roll out 5G, “we do not have those complications (comparatively) in taking decisions in that regard.

“But, we practically welcome every company that wants to do business with us in Nigeria. Huawei is in Nigeria and so are all the other technology companies.

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“We haven’t gone through any kind of decision making for rolling out the 5G technology; as a matter of fact we are going to roll out 5G ourselves. Talking about the equipment and technology; how did the Chinese get it? How did anyone else get the technology? We will do it ourselves.”

Speaking further, the Vice President, who was optimistic about the possibility to developing homegrown capacity in the technology space, said the government would leverage the efforts and resourcefulness of youths to actualise its potentials in the sector.

“Our potential in technology and entertainment has been attracting huge attention. First, is the market; at 174 million GSM phones, we are among the top 10 telephone users in the world, and we have the highest percentage of people who use internet on their phones in the world,” Osinbajo added.

Continuing, he said: “We are also number two in mobile internet banking in the world, and 17 million Nigerians are on Facebook. Microsoft has announced that it will establish a $100 million  African Development Centre in Nigeria.