As the kidnap of school children by bandits continues in the northern part of the country, the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, has suggested the deployment of science and technology to enhance the safety of these children.
He gave the advice when he received the national coordinator, Partnership Action for Safe Schooling (PASS), Amb. Emenike Eme, who paid him a courtesy visit in his office yesterday in Abuja.
Onu, who called for increased partnership in harnessing the enormous wealth of science and technology towards improving the safety of children in schools, emphasized that the priority of President Muhammadu Buhari administration was to ensure school children have the necessary protection needed for their safety.
He stressed that the importance of securing the most vulnerable in the society like children cannot be overemphasized, hence the need for the protection and guarantee of their overall needs. He gave assurance that the environmental safety corps of the ministry was working in partnership with relevant organizations for the support and development of children.
He also said the nation’s scientists were working hard through their research to improve on herbs and plants to make drugs that cure ravaging diseases in the world. He described deforestation as very dangerous, adding cutting down trees without replacement is harmful to the nation’s economic development.
“We are working with ministries of agriculture and environment towards finding a lasting solution to de-forestation in Nigeria,” he further stated.
Earlier, Eme told the minister that the purpose of their visit was to seek partnership in harnessing the enormous wealth of science and technology towards improving the safety of our schools through the PASS project.
