Clintonel Innovation Centre (CIC)

Our makerspace (fab lab or engineering hub) is building capacity in Nigeria for engineering innovation, indigenous products development and manufacturing. I will use the funding to scale up the impact of the projects we are implementing in Nigeria including:

1. STEM kits and training for secondary schools students
2. Engineering skills building for university lecturers and students
3. Indigenous product development and entrepreneurship support for Nigerian inventors and engineers

My name is Tochukwu Chukwueke, an electronics engineer and inventor with 3 patents.

I got my first patent in the university. I suffered so much while trying to develop products in Nigeria. I travelled round the country seeking help but found none. There was no access to equipment, resources or funding for products development. So, I promised myself that when I grow up I’ll solve this problem – I’ll build a centre where talented people like me will have access to training, mentoring and equipment to cultivate their talents and develop innovative products to meet the needs in our society. This promise was fulfilled when I founded Clintonel Innovation Centre (CIC) – Nigeria’s first Makerspace with a mission to build capacity in Nigeria for engineering innovation, indigenous products development and manufacturing.

Our vision is to advance engineering and manufacturing in Nigeria.

Within 3 years, CIC has:

• Partnered with 6 universities
• Trained 800 students in STEM from 59 secondary schools
• Trained 515 young people with skills to gain employment
• Trained 60 university lecturers and 85 undergraduates
• Supported 20 inventors to develop indigenous products
• Built a national community to drive change and development (called Hardware Nigeria Community)

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report 2020, 40% of Nigerians are poor. That represents 82.9 million people. In essence, 4 out of every 10 Nigerians are poor. Similarly, 33.3% of Nigerians are unemployed. Unemployment for people aged 15 to 24 stood at 53.4%.

Unemployment and Poverty are serious crisis confronting Nigeria and Africa. One solution to these problems is industrialization. Industries provide massive employment that could lift millions of people out of poverty. However, we can’t industrialize without a solid foundation in engineering or STEM.

To address the problems, we’re implementing a project which includes:

1. STEM kits and training for secondary schools students:
2. Engineering skills building for university lecturers and students
3. Indigenous product development and entrepreneurship support for Nigerian inventors and engineers

We design and build a set of indigenous STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) kits for secondary schools.

We train engineering lecturers and students on skills needed in the industry to design and manufacture the products we import. We work to enhance industry-academia collaboration while bridging the skills gap in engineering education.

Our makerpace provides access to training, mentoring and equipment for young Nigerians to create engineering innovations, build indigenous products and start up businesses.

• We founded Nigeria’s first makerspace (fab lab or engineering hub).
• Through the makerspace, we are building Nigeria’s first national community for change and engineering development called Hardware Nigeria Community (HNC) which already has over 250 inventors, designers, engineers, entrepreneurs nationwide.
• Our STEM kits are specifically designed by our engineering team to equip Nigerian and Africans students with critical thinking, problem solving, innovation,  product development skills
• We’re building a strategic synergy between tertiary institutions and industries in Nigeria enabling the schools to adapt education to the needs of the industry
• We are organising national engineering competition where we promote indigenous innovations and support the innovators to optimise their products to meet the needs of the market.

We take the following steps:

1. STEM kits and training for secondary schools students:
2. Engineering skills building for university lecturers and students
3. Indigenous product development and entrepreneurship support for Nigerian inventors and engineers

We design and build a set of indigenous STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) kits for secondary schools.

We train engineering lecturers and students on skills needed in the industry to design and manufacture the products we import and consume. We work to enhance industry-academia collaboration while bridging the skills gap in engineering education.

Our makerpace provides access to training, mentoring and equipment for young Nigerians to create engineering innovations, build indigenous products and start up businesses.

These steps are effective because they are already creating significant impacts:

• Interest in STEM career has increased among Secondary school students who participate in our STEM programs
• Tertiary institutions have started opening up for collaboration with industries towards improving engineering education
• Our trainees have started new businesses, secured funding and employed several young persons
• Nigerians are beginning to design and build different indigenous programs
• Nigerian manufacturers have started sourcing manufacturing tools and equipment from local producers