By Hillary Asemota
The Minister of Science Technology and Innovation (STI), Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, has said the deployment of STI across all sectors of the economy in the country is the pathway for Nigeria and other less development to avoid the current Russia-Ukraine war and the COVID-19 pandemic scenarios.
According to him, the ongoing military face-off between Russia-Ukrainian that has claimed thousands of lives and set back economic development clearly shows that every nation, both small and big alike must effectively utilize STI to ensure that its territorial integrity will always be protected.
Onu, spoke at the twentieth (20th) meeting of the National Council on Science, Technology and Innovation (NCSTI), made up of Commissioners of STI from across the States and FCT, with the theme: ‘Achieving Nigeria’s Competitiveness through Application of Science, Technology and Innovation.’
The main focus of this meeting, he added is to help Nigeria achieve sustainable development and less dependent on other nations.
He said STI is the key that will help us, as a nation, to unlock the door of opportunities for our dear nation, adding this policy will help us solve many of our national problems.
It will help us educate our people, create jobs for our young and the old alike, fight and defeat poverty among our people particularly in the rural areas, fight ignorance, industrialise the nation, strengthen our economy, secure our nation, provide food security for our people and produce drugs and medicine for the sick among several other things, the Minister said.
While acknowledging the surge in price of bread, he explained that the effect in the anticipated shortfall in imported wheat for bread production arising from this war, can be ameliorated by utilizing research and innovation work already carried out in the Federal Institute for Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO).
He said: “FIIRO through research and innovation has produced bread of comparable quality with 20 percent substitution of cassava flour for wheat. Hence, working with 80 percent wheat and 20 percent cassava flour, Nigeria can make substantial savings through reduction in wheat import and yet produce bread of comparable quality for use by our citizens.
“Every nation through research and innovation uses its own locally available raw materials to make products that are of great importance to the sustainability of its economy.
“I call on FIIRO to make this locally developed technology available to our bakers in the best interest of our nation and also in line with the Presidential Executive Order No 5.
He said many of the policies initiated by the Ministry and approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), owe a lot to the resolutions of our council meetings. I can mention some of them: the National Science, Technology and Innovation Roadmap, 2017-2030; the National Strategy for Competitiveness in Raw Materials and Product Development; the Presidential Executive Order No 5; the Methanol Fuel Technology Policy; and the Leather and Leather Products Policy
“These policies, are at different levels of implementation. Some of them like the National Strategy for Competitiveness in Raw Materials and Product Development as well as the Presidential Executive Order No 5 have contributed in improving the global competitiveness ranking of our dear nation, as recorded by the World Economic Forum. Nigeria’s global competitiveness ranking improved from the position of 124 out of 140 countries by 2015/2016, to a position of 115 out of 140 countries by 2018/2019.
“Also, in 2019, the patents facilitated by the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), an agency under the supervision of the FMSTI, contributed as high as 65% of the total patents, generated in the country. This is a clear indication of the contributions of FMSTI to innovation in the country, in an effort to enhance the speedy industrialization of the nation.
“Work is ongoing on new policies, whose draft copies will soon be presented to FEC for approval. These include policies on Nanotechnology, Bioethics, Welding and Welding Related Fields as well as the revised National Energy Policy. These new policies when approved, will further deepen the diversification of our economy.”
He said some of the approved policies FEC has made very significant contributions to national development, adding: these policies have contributed in making our economy to be knowledge based and innovation driven as against the previous situation where our economy was almost entirely dependent on commodities.
Through the effective deployment of STI, he said Nigeria will improve on its food security, employment generation, infrastructural development, poverty reduction, promotion of national security among several others. This council must resolve to continuously promote the advocacy of STI in the nation.
He recalled that at the just concluded 2022 STI Expo, President Muhammadu Buhari, launched the 2022 revised National Science, Technology and Innovation (NSTI) Policy. The policy is a very important document that will coordinate and supervise all STI activities in the country.
He said: “It is the key that will help us, as a nation, to unlock the door of opportunities for our dear nation. This policy will help us solve many of our national problems. It will help us educate our people, create jobs for our young and the old alike, fight and defeat poverty among our people particularly in the rural areas, fight ignorance, industrialise the nation, strengthen our economy, secure our nation, provide food security for our people and produce drugs and medicine for the sick among several other things.
The revealed that the ministry is in a collaborative partnership programme – Horizon Europe for Nigeria, the new Africa initiative. This is a new European Union (EU) framework programme for Research and Innovation running from 2021 to 2027.
This programme, when fully implemented, will support research and innovation in all institutions in Nigeria, both public and private. It will involve the participation of Nigerian scientists in the diaspora working with those at home in addition to European scientists and institutions.
