Kunle Adeabu
-Lagos index position not good enough – LASPOTECH Dep. Rector
The maiden edition of the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH) School of Pure and Applied Science (SPAS) Public Lecture was not only timely going by the efforts of the Lagos State government in remodeling the state, but also thought provoking as scholars agreed that the pursuit of a Smart City agenda would create more opportunities and improve quality of lives.
Prof. Osaretin Albert Taiwo Ebuehi, a Professor of Biochemistry in University of Lagos (UNILAG) and the Deputy Provost of the institution’s College of Medicine, was the guest lecturer at the SPAS Lecture Series 1.0 themed, “Energy, Technology and Environmental Management in a Smart City”.
He did justice to the topic and earned standing ovations from scholars, staff and students of LASPOTECH that were in attendance at the lecture held at the 500 – Seater auditorium at the Polytechnic’s main campus in Ikorodu.
Some of the scholars that contributed agreed that the pursuit of Smart City Lagos requires serious commitment on the part of the government.
It was also agreed that the achievement of the Smart City would bring more opportunities and improve the living conditions of the State’s inhabitants among other prospects.
Prof. Ebuehi, in his paper, said that Smart City is about desirable future inhabitation where every facet of human lives are integrated into technology to provide good living conditions for its inhabitants.
“Smart City is a city of the future and that’s why we call it an innovative city. It is an intelligent city. It is a city that we all look forward to seeing and which we want to enjoy, but it is at the cost of a number of things that our government must put in place”, he said.
“It will give us Smart buildings, energy, smart mobility on transport and among others.
He said that building a Smart City takes government mindset, political will, availability of resources and commitment to get it done within five to ten years.
Prof. Ebuehi added that readiness of the private sector to participate, availability of ICT and technology, availability of basic infrastructures and constant power supply, are other factors that must be available in building a Smart City.
He further added that the government has more to do in this regard.
The Professor of Biochemistry listed Cape Town (South Africa), Eko Atlantic City (Lagos), Hope and king City (South Africa), Waterfall City (South Africa), Vision City (Kigali, Rwanda) and Kanza City (Kenya) and others as top Smart Cities in Africa.
The top ten Smart Cities in the world according to the guest speaker are Singapore, Dubai, Copahengen, Boston, Hong Kong, New York, Barcelona, London, Amsterdam and Oslo.
He said that government, through technology, has reclaimed and turned Atlantic City to an emerging smart city which he said was previously an empty base.
He also said that Smart City is necessary to create healthy competition among cities which brings out the best in them, makes cities thrive in all facets of life, attracts more people with employment, especially those who have something to offer or contribute to its development, generates more revenue and also ensures that technology is deploy in all areas of the city’s lives.
Prof. Ebuehi also said that if achieved, the future city will bring about smart populace, smart government, smart technology, improved technology, more access to data, adequate energy, water and waste management, smart employment opportunities, beefed up qualifications, ease participation in public lives and bring about effective and efficient management of human and material resources.
The Rector of the institution, Dr Oluremi Nurudeen Olaleye, commended the guest speaker for honouring the invitation and also the School for the initiating discussion on the Smart City project.
He was represented by the Deputy Rector (Academic), Mr Olumide Metilelu, who said that the topic is timely and crucial to the ongoing discourse on development of Smart City.
“The choice of this lecture is very apt in the face of the ongoing discussion on smart city, technology, energy and environmental management in a smart city”, he said.
“Only people who are smart can drive a smart city while efficient use of energy for technological development would obviously impact on the environment.
He said that a Smart City is a city that integrates the safe and critical needs of its inhabitants and added that the position of Lagos State in the global Smart City index is not good enough.
“A smart city presupposes the proper integration of three critical layers – physical, institutional and digital infrastructure. It is, therefore, my considered opinion that the current position of Lagos as number 109 in the Smart City index for 2020 is not the best for us. If Singapore is number one, why not Lagos?”, he asked rhetorically.
“The attainment of Lagos as number one Smart City in Africa for instance, will improve the economy, governance, environment, mobility and also smart people”, he said.
According to the Polytechnic administrator, a Smart City is, “A city that monitors and adopts the integration of upstate critical infrastructures for the ease of carrying out activities. It is also a city that links the physical, infrastructures, IT infrastructures and social infrastructures together to leverage the collective intelligence of the a city.
“It is a city consisting of ICT and other organizational designs that are involved in the planning efforts to dematerialize and speed up …and help to identify new innovative solutions to city management complexity in order to improve sustainability”, he said.
Dr Jimoh Taylor, the Dean of the School of Pure and Applied Science, LASPOTECH, also commended the guest speaker for honouring the institution’s invitation despite cancellation of many set dates.
The senior lecturer conceptualized Smart City as, “The city that uses information, communication and technology to improve operational efficiency, share information to the public and provide a better quality of government services”.
He was also of the opinion that government will have to play prominent roles in providing energy, technology, internet and many others.
Speaking earlier, Dr Johnson Momoh, the Chairman of the Organising Committee of the School of Pure and Applied Science Lecture, said that the lecture will help identify opportunities in modern technology and profer solutions.
