Ekiti State must urgently convert its strong educational tradition and human capital into industrial production, jobs and sustainable wealth, the Founder of Tunji Olowolafe Foundation, Dr. Tunji Olowolafe, has said.
Olowolafe, who spoke at the Ekiti at 30 Future Summit in Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday, identified reliable electricity, practical vocational skills and direct links to industrial supply chains and global markets as the three fundamentals required to move the state from academic excellence to economic prosperity.
He said Ekiti had the human capital and institutional foundation to lead in the emerging economy shaped by artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology, automation and new energy systems, but must now focus on translating knowledge into solutions that eliminate poverty and create sustainable wealth.
Presenting the lead paper, titled “The Path to Ekiti’s Greatness: Opportunities, Choices, and Imperatives for the Next 30 Years,” Olowolafe proposed the establishment of renewable-energy microgrids in each of the state’s 177 political wards.
He said a technical audit should be conducted immediately to determine the energy needs of each ward, adding that solar microgrids of between 300 and 500 kilowatts could power schools, health centres, workshops and clusters of small businesses.
According to him, such projects were within the execution capacity of the state and could be accelerated with support from the Rural Electrification Agency.
Olowolafe, a construction tycoon and accomplished investor, also called for a major expansion and modernisation of vocational education, saying the future economy would increasingly reward practical competence.
He identified solar installation, welding, fabrication, machinery repair, food processing and other high-value technical trades as areas requiring greater investment.
He noted that although Ekiti had six government technical colleges with modern workshops and apprenticeship pathways, they were insufficient to meet the needs of the hundreds of thousands of young people across the state’s 16 local government areas.
He proposed the recruitment of master vocational instructors from countries such as Switzerland, Germany, Canada and South Africa to train local faculty, modernise curricula and connect the colleges digitally with employers and clients around the world.
The entrepreneur stressed the importance of closer collaboration between technical institutions and industry, arguing that major industrial firms should participate in curriculum design, deploy engineers to teach and recruit directly from technical colleges.
He cited the practical training already being undertaken by civil engineering students of Ekiti State University on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway as an example of the model he envisaged.
Olowolafe said the state must also strengthen the connection between power, skills, enterprise and physical and digital infrastructure.
He described the Ekiti Knowledge Zone as an important initiative capable of enabling young people to build technology ventures from the state while serving clients in cities such as Lagos, London and Singapore.
He also cited the completion of the Ekiti Agro-Allied International Cargo Airport as an example of what continuity in governance could achieve, noting that the project had passed through successive administrations before being completed by the present administration.
On agriculture, Olowolafe challenged Ekiti’s universities, engineers, scientists and artisans to develop practical technologies that would reduce post-harvest losses and add value to the state’s agricultural output.
He particularly called for the development of affordable solar-powered cocoa dryers for cocoa-producing communities.
He said Ekiti produced 4,500 tonnes of cocoa in 2025, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, and urged the state to adopt the objective of ensuring that “cocoa must become chocolate at source.”
He similarly advocated greater local processing of the state’s solid minerals, saying Ekiti must move beyond the export of raw resources.
As part of efforts to support this, the Tunji Olowolafe Foundation is collaborating with Ekiti State University to modernise its Department of Geology with solar power, high-speed internet, computer hardware and advanced field-testing equipment.
Olowolafe said the foundation’s ambition was to make the department the premier geology faculty in Africa within five years.
He also announced three commitments by his foundation to support the state’s development agenda.
He said the foundation would, in collaboration with the state government, install or upgrade modern information and communications technology centres in the six government technical colleges, with each centre powered by solar energy and connected to high-speed Starlink internet.
It would also recruit international vocational-training experts to support teachers, train students and help reform curricula, with success measured by the number of graduates certified, employed or running their own businesses.
The third commitment is to help transform the EKSU Department of Geology into the best in Africa within five years through partnerships with leading mining schools in Canada and South Africa, while introducing vocational certificate programmes for geological technicians and mine safety officers.
Olowolafe said Ekiti’s first 30 years had demonstrated that the state could exist, but the next decade should demonstrate that it could lead.
“Ekiti has mineral resources, cash crops and excellent human capital,” he said, urging stakeholders to take advantage of the opportunities before the state and make the necessary choices for its future.
He proposed that stakeholders should reconvene every two years to review progress and hold themselves accountable for the commitments made towards transforming the state.
He said that with focus and discipline, much of the transformation envisaged for the next 30 years could be achieved within 10 years.
