The Lagos State Polytechnic, LASPOTECH, has begun building drones in what its authorities say is a project meant to contribute to increasing Lagos’s capacity to maintain security. The project has been embarked upon in collaboration with the International College of Aeronautics and Aviation Studies.
According to LASPOTECH’s rector, Samuel Oluyinka, the drones were being built for surveillance purposes and would be capable of securing the institution’s campus and the state. At the press conference which preceeded LASPOTECH’s 25th convocation ceremony, he said that the plan was to begin by deploying the drones to survey the institution, after which they will be used on a state-wide scale. He expressed optimism that the project would begin to cater for the state’s aerial surveillance needs once the drones began to be built with 70 percent local content.
Speaking on the level of involvement of the staff and students of the institution in the project, Mr. Oluyinka said that various departments of the polytechnic were collaborating on the design and construction of the drones.
At the convocation proper, Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode affirmed the state’s support for the drone project. He said that the state would promote and fund the building of the drones, and use them for aerial security surveillance.