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A tech expert, Nzube Ndiokwelu, has urged youths to use the tech-innovation ecosystem to multiply and raise standards of technology and innovative ideas in society.
Mr Ndiokwelu, the founder of The Beaconsmith Collective, made the call at a presentation on Wednesday at the ongoing Enugu Tech Festival 2026, being held between 24 February and 27 February.
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He noted that technology right now is “phenomenal and not incremental anymore, but compounding”.
According to him, with AI, robotics, blockchain, media tooling, among others, the frontier is moving fast enough that a small group of serious people can change outcomes in a city within a short time.
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“But let’s be honest. Technology does not automatically lift a society. Technology amplifies whatever the society already is. If we are coordinated, it multiplies progress. If we are fragmented, it multiplies noise.”
Mr Ndiokwelu, a member of the Local Organising Committee of the Enugu Tech Festival 2026, said that for Enugu, the choice was clear.
According to him, we either unite around shared objectives and a shared standard of excellence, or we keep drifting backwards with talent everywhere and results that do not last.
“I like to keep ecosystem work simple. Every year must answer one question. What did you achieve in the last year that moved the ecosystem forward?
“In 2015, my output was coordination. I hosted one of Enugu’s earliest major developer gatherings in the Google Developer Festival era. At that time, the ‘product’ was not a startup.
“The product was builders meeting builders, standards being set, and a local developer identity being activated. That was the foundation stage.
“You cannot build an ecosystem if people never meet and never raise the bar together.”
He said that his organisation had moved from organising people to building what made progress stick.
Mr Ndiokwelu, an Enugu tech ecosystem pioneer, noted that last year, the output moved from coordination to production.
“I pushed into the frontier and proved we can compete there. In 2025, I won Best AI Short Film at the Naija AI Film Festival in Lagos.
“That is not motivation. That is a receipt. It proves that when our builders and creators have tools, discipline, and environment, we can produce work that stands anywhere.
“And that recognition points to a bigger truth. Gatekeeping has reduced. Tool access has widened. The only remaining difference is standards and structure.
“That is why The Beaconsmith Collective exists. It is not another meetup. It is a creative lab and a community designed for continuity,” he said.
The tech executive noted that a lab alone is not enough; a serious community needs an infrastructure layer.
“It needs rules that hold. Records that last. Systems that make collaboration reliable.
“That is what I mean by building a community on code. Not everybody writing software every day, but the community itself running on clear standards, clear contribution, and clear receipts.
“So this is what Enugu Tech Fest means now. Not just a gathering. A checkpoint. A moment to align the ecosystem around excellence, and then convert that alignment into execution.
“Where next is also clear. We keep raising the output standard. We deepen the infrastructure layer so the ecosystem does not reset,” he added.
The Beaconsmith Collective is a creative lab and community in Enugu that advances practical work in AI, blockchain, and emerging technologies.
What Gov Mbah said at the tech festival
Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State declared open the second edition of the Enugu Tech Festival at the International Conference Centre, Enugu, on Tuesday.
Mr Mbah said technology and innovation remain at the heart of Enugu’s transformation under his administration, urging youths to explore the abundant opportunities in both.
He said that technology had since transcended a supportive role to become the operating system of how lives function.
“The world has crossed a line. What we are witnessing in our lifetime is nothing short of an economic renaissance powered by technology.
“In just three decades, companies that began in garages and dorm rooms have grown into some of the most valuable institutions in human history.
“Enterprises like Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta Platforms have reshaped commerce, communication, entertainment, finance, governance, and even human relationships.
“The rise of these companies tells us something profound: the world economy is no longer driven primarily by physical assets, but by ideas, code, data, and innovation. We are witnessing the acceleration of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
“Here in Enugu, we have made a deliberate decision: we will not be spectators in this revolution. We will be participants. We will be producers,” the governor stated.
(NAN)
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