In an apparent move to hit the ground running, the Minister of Science and Technology (S&T), Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu says his main thrust in the new administration is to secure the dwindling economy through import-substitution technologies and techniques and fight crime using science, technology and innovation.
He said the country has suffered too many economic and security development setbacks due to the continued display of ignorance by past administrations and their sheer neglect of science and technology as the critical factors in achieving sustainable development.
Onu said at the weekend that Nigeria must face the current economic downturn and insurgency with effective policy direction and the right equipment with intelligence gathering, to be able to come out of the present difficulty.
“We must face problems in the country with effective and right type of equipment and intelligence gathering. The problem we have is to make sure we deploy the right type of equipment and without science and technology, we cannot do it,” he said.
On funding, the Minister said though research and development (R&D) which is at the heart of science and technology, require a lot of funding, the most important thing was leadership and political will, which the President is already providing.
“The President is recognizing that science and technology is important in research and development. Once the political will is there, the commitment will come and science and technology will now have the needed support from government.
“Unlike in other countries, where science and technology is making very big contributions to their GDP, the situation has to change in Nigeria but we have to make a start.
“The commitment of the President is the most important thing for us. Tackling the preponderance of the movement of small arms and weapons going on in Nigeria calls for caution and reflection on how we can turn the tide because the country is blessed with human and natural resources to do all these things locally,” he said.
Onu, who regretted the long neglect of the sector in the past decades, said, “if we had deployed science and technology in the past, we would not be what we are today. Our military would be stronger. A situation where we go begging to buy arms from other countries with cash is not acceptable because we should be capable of doing this.”
-Vanguard