The Vice Chancellor of UNN, Prof Benjamin Chukwuma Ozumba, said the students of engineering will, through the plant, develop and acquire further skills in laptop assemblage.
He mentioned that the goal of the project, which is known as ‘Lion Laptops’, was to make laptop affordable for students to carry on with research and other trainings.
Prof Ozumba called on relevant Government, private, technology and local content bodies to support the initiative in line with the need for industrialisation and youth empowerment.
He pointed out that Nigeria’s youthful population is an asset that needs to be prepared for a prosperous future for Africa and the World.
In a bid to ensure 21st Century compliant learning for the University Students, the Vice Chancellor introduced the ‘one laptop per student’ initiative in 2015.
However, the initiative was threatened by high foreign exchange rates, hence the vision of the production project.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, who was the Founder’s Day lecturer, commissioned the complex during the celebration of the institution’s 57th Founder Day ceremony.
Alhaji Abubakar stated that the idea was innovative, and in line with the dreams of the founding fathers of the University, calling on other tertiary institutions to follow UNN’s example.
He expressed optimism that the idea will revolutionise the technology sector to depend less on imported goods.
Lion Laptop Assemblage Plant
The Lion Laptop Assemblage Plant is the first to be established in a Nigerian University.
The laptop parts were delivered by a Lagos-based indigenous technology company, Crestsage Limited, under a management arrangement with Benefitting Our Community (BOC) Innovations.
The complex has the capacity to produce 100,000 laptops a year, with the laptops meeting the needs of the Nigerian student.
The laptops have matching quality with affordable cost and capacity to produce custom-made specification for different schools and Government initiative across the Country.
The Head of the Assembly Plant, Engineer Charles Emembolu, maintained that the establishment of ‘Lion Laptop Assembly plant’ in UNN will continue to occupy the number one position in Nigeria.
He noted that the complex would offer an on-campus manufacturing and learning environment for the University Community, Students and Researchers.
He also stated that the complex would employ about 500 people when producing at full capacity.
In 2015, the UNN made it mandatory to have a laptop. Students were asked to pay N75,000 to the institution.
The House of Representatives however, asked its Committees on Education (Basic and Tertiary) to intervene in the compulsory N75, 000 laptop fee charged students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
