According to Ademola Adeleke, the governor of Osun State, the law domesticating the Start-Up Act in the state will reduce online fraud among youngsters known as Yahoo Yahoo and provide them the opportunity to use their skills for good.
Adeleke said this during a stakeholder meeting on the domestication of the Nigerian Startup Act on Saturday in Osogbo.
Kehinde Jimoh, the Coordinating Director for the Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Technology in the Office of the Governor, was acting on Adeleke’s behalf. Adeleke also stated that his government intends to use the Act to unleash the full potential of young people in the state.
Moreover, he said that every stakeholder has been involved in ensuring the Act’s appropriate domestication.
The Osun State Government, in his words, “wants to use this bill to develop the youths, to involve them meaningfully. The state wants to make sure that this Startup involves them and uses their knowledge for something constructive.
“For instance, those who are involved in Yahoo Yahoo are intelligent; before you can deceive someone, you must have performed some intellectual mathematics, but instead of doing this negatively, they will be made to deploy their energy positively; their potential and energy can be tailored towards developing the state.
He said that once tamed, it will deal with issues like young unemployment, restlessness, and other societal vices.
In a separate speech, Tracy Okoro-Isaac, State Adoption Lead for the Nigeria Startup Act, claimed that if the Act were to become law, it might stop young people from leaving and urge them to remain and realise their full potential.
Speaking on behalf of the Forum of Digital Technology Entrepreneurs (FODITE), Segun Solomon stated that the actions made by the governor of Osun have elevated the state’s standing as one that favours digital technology.
