FUTO, OCCIMA Explore Partnership to Promote Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Commercialisation

Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Prof. I.N.S. Dozie has expressed the University's readiness to collaborate with the Owerri Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (OCCIMA) to promote innovation, entrepreneurship, and the commercialisation of research outputs. Prof. Dozie made this known when members of OCCIMA paid him a courtesy visit in his office on Tuesday, August 11, 2026.

The Vice-Chancellor said the proposed partnership would provide a platform where talented students, researchers, innovators, and engineers would develop their entrepreneurial capacities, connect with industry, and take their innovations from the laboratory to the marketplace.

He said his administration remains open to partnerships with stakeholders whose ideas and initiatives align with the University's vision and his 6-Point Strategic Goals of Action. “FUTO as an institution parades great potential that can turn things around for good. Come up with your action plan because we are determined to deepen discussion that will benefit our students and enable them to gain full knowledge of the industry,” Prof. Dozie said.

He assured the delegation that the University would provide the enabling environment for the proposed collaboration to achieve its objectives.

Earlier, the President of OCCIMA, Chief Charles Okeke, said the Chamber was seeking to establish mechanisms for bridging the gap between inventions, prototypes and the marketplace. He explained that the proposed partnership would create opportunities for promising FUTO inventions and technologies to be presented to businesses, manufacturers, investors, and financial institutions for further development, funding, and commercialisation.

Chief Okeke proposed an “Annual FUTO-OCCIMA Innovation and Commercialisation Exhibition” as a platform for bringing together researchers, students, entrepreneurs, manufacturers, investors, and other relevant stakeholders to showcase innovations and explore opportunities for collaboration and investment.

He further suggested that OCCIMA could help facilitate the presentation of real-life industrial challenges to FUTO researchers and students, helping them to develop practical, technology-driven solutions to problems confronting businesses and industries.

The proposed collaboration is expected to strengthen the relationship between FUTO and the organised private sector while creating new opportunities for knowledge exchange, industry exposure, entrepreneurship development, and the commercialisation of University research and innovations.