ABUJA – (Federal Ministry of Science & Technology Report) – The Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu (Dr) has called for constant review of Science and Technology Policy so as reflect the changing trends in the global world.
The Minister said this when he received a delegation from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in his office in Abuja on Monday November 25, 2019. He stated that the visit of the UNCTAD’s team was part of the inclusive policy of the Federal Government to involve all relevant stakeholders in the bid to boost Science and Technology in the country.
Ogbonnaya Onu mentioned that the last time Science and Technology was reviewed was in 2012, adding that the coming of the UNCTAD team was most timely and would assist the country tremendously in the proposed Review of STI Policy. Onu hinted that in the bid to put in place a knowledge and innovation – based economy, the Ministry had come up with 5 new policies which he hopes would eventually succeed in opening more jobs for the people as well as creating more wealth for the nation.
“The Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of the Federal Government has placed Science and Technology at the centre of all economic activities in the country. The newly introduced Methanol Policy would be helpful in industries, power generation, energy and enhance green economy. The Ministry is very strategic in ensuring the success of the vision to free 100 millions Nigerians from the poverty trap,” the Minister emphasized.
“We want a situation whereby Nigerian professionals can participate vigorously in economic activities in the country, so as to ensure wealth creation and poverty reduction.” Â
While speaking earlier, the Leader of the Delegation, Demo Cavolsky informed that the UNCTAD was in Nigeria to assist the country upgrade its Science and Technology policy. Also, the Director – General of NOTAP, Dan Azumi Ibrahim maintained that Nigeria’s partnership with UNCTAD started a long time ago and would be beneficial to the economy.
“There is need for us to collaborate and put our efforts together, so that we would successfully review the policy by putting in mechanisms that would ensure sustainable implementation and effective implementation of the policy,” he avowed.
