A real estate expert, Femi Akintunde, has urged the federal government to take advantage of the technology offered by the fourth industrial revolution to tackle the country’s multifaceted challenges.

Mr Akintunde, the group managing director of Alpha Mead, a real estate solution company, gave the advice Thursday at a roundtable at the University of Lagos.

According to Mr Akintunde, the keynote speaker at the event, the general perception in the country is that of serious economic challenges, which have, in turn, inflicted hardship on the citizens.

He said the situation in the country was easily surmountable if the government could connect with industrialisation.

Mr Akintunde stated, “There is nothing here that says we cannot turn around the fortunes of our country’s economy and catch up with the rest of the world. It is all about our readiness, willingness and commitment.

“We need to know where we are as a nation and where to focus.

“People have been saying that Nigeria has problems, but I stand to say that Nigeria has no problems.”

He cited inadequate infrastructure and an increase in unemployment, among others, as factors limiting the realisation of the fourth industrial transition in the country.

Mr Akintunde stated that the fourth industrial revolution marked the era of automation robotics, while the fifth industrial revolution focused on the people.

According to him, the fourth industrial revolution is where technology is leveraged and developed to the maximum level, including all forms of technology, ranging from artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) to cybersecurity.

The keynote speaker stated that the fourth industrial revolution had put so much power in the hands of the world, but how to ensure that such technology is deployed for the benefit of mankind is key.

“For us to be able to deploy any of these technologies, there must be uninterrupted power supply, which is not currently available.

“We still have a lot of things being done manually, high level of mobility constraints and many other things that are not enabling the academics that can research and develop findings that will proffer solutions to challenges facing every sector of the country’s economy,” he stated.

(NAN)