By Victoria Onyisi
The Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology Chief Uche Geoffrey Nnaji has said that collaboration is vital to the socio-economic development of Nigeria.
He stated that Government is harnessing the full potentials of Innovation, Science and Technology to drive the desired diversification of economic development and empowerment of its citizen.
Nnaji said this, at the official signing of Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) between the National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM) and its Technical Partners in Academia and Industry on Thursday in Abuja.
He further said that the NACETEM has been at the forefront of our national technological endeavours, working tirelessly towards harnessing and disseminating knowledge, by fostering technological advancement in the country.
According to Chief Nnaji, the private sector with its invaluable expertise and resources, play a vital role in shaping the trajectory of our Nation’s workforce towards addressing the current challenges as well as prepares for future demands.
The Minister also said that the already established technological and innovation centres by the Ministry across the six geo-political zones in the country will accommodate the training of welders to acquire the International welding certification (ISO) in order to meet up with the international standards, emphasizing that the country is losing billions of naira due to lack of skilled artisans.
To this end, the Minister commended the selected Institutions and private sectors for their commitment to investing in human capital development for mutual benefit of the Country.
Earlier, the Director-General of the National Centre for Technology Management, (NACETEM) Dr. Olushola Odusanya said the agency’s mandate is to serve as a training centre for the development of skilled man power in the area of Science, Technology and Innovation management in all tiers of government and the private sector.
He stated that collaboration with academia and the private sector is as a result of inadequate skilled workforce in the country, hence the need to train the youths to international standard.
Speaking, one of the partners in academia the Vice Chancellor of Federal University of Technology Minna, (FUT) Prof. Faruk Adamu Kuta, said that the University is a specialised one that is meant for activation of knowledge and technological skills, and its focus is usually product driven for public consumption.
Responding, the Country Director, Neuro-Linguistic Programming Limited (NLP), Mr. Rajiv Sharma said generally, there is a short fall in the digital industry as the world is growing digitally.
He further said that collaboration with the Ministry will play a huge role in propelling the economy of the country.
The MoU between the National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM) an Agency of the Ministry was signed with the Federal University of Technology Minna (FUT), Neuro-Linguistic Programming Ltd, Commit Technology & Consult and the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR).
