The UK Government has launched a community-owned digital connectivity hub in Siun, Ogun State, aimed at expanding affordable internet access, digital skills and economic opportunities in underserved communities.
The facility, inaugurated in Obafemi Owode Local Government Area, is one of 10 community-centred connectivity hubs being supported by the UK Government through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s Digital Access Programme.
The project is designed to give local communities ownership and responsibility for managing the facilities, while providing internet access, digital learning and opportunities for entrepreneurship.
Grace Bell, First Secretary for Economic Partnership at the FCDO, said the Siun hub demonstrated how community ownership could make digital transformation more sustainable.
“Today is about much more than inaugurating a building with connectivity access,” she said.
“It is about celebrating a community-led vision for the future. It demonstrates that when communities are empowered to identify their own challenges and co-create their own solutions, digital transformation becomes more sustainable, inclusive and impactful.”
The hub will provide a shared space for digital skills training, education, entrepreneurship and access to information and other services.
It was built with locally sourced materials and powered by sustainable energy solutions, according to the organisers.
The Olu of Siun, Oba Lawrence Olawale Adisa Odeyinka, said the facility would create opportunities for young people and women in the community.
“The Siun Digital Hub is critical for youths and market women to gain the skills required in the 21st century,” he said.
He described the project as evidence of what communities could achieve through collective action and pledged support for its long-term operation.
Representing the Alake and Paramount Ruler of Egbaland, Oba Dr Michael Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, Prof Ajao Adenekan described the project as “not just the opening of a building, but the opening of a door of opportunities for members of the community”.
The Siun facility joins other community connectivity hubs operating in Kaduna, Kwara, Abia and Ogun states.
The hubs are implemented by the Initiative for Digital Inclusion and are intended to provide internet access and digital literacy training while helping to reduce digital exclusion.
The UK Government says the wider Digital Access Programme supports Nigeria’s efforts to improve meaningful digital access, strengthen digital skills and enable more people to participate in the digital economy.
Community leaders in Siun are expected to work with project partners to ensure that the facility remains operational and continues to serve young people, women and other underserved groups.
