The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Sen. Adeleke Mamora, has promised to support the Private Public Partnership (PPP) administration to boost the growth and development of the country.
Mamora made this known during the official presentation of the Full Business Case (FBC) certificates for the public private partnership (PPP) in his office, in Abuja.
“The two projects to be concessioned are Planetarium and Broadband facilities with specialised theatre in which representations of the solar system galaxy and universe can be projected. These are very critical projects that will enhance our development as a nation.
“We are setting a target of six months for ourselves. So, as far as we are concerned, whatever we cannot do between now and December, we are not in a hurry [to do]. In doing so, we did talk about low-hanging fruits that will give us quick wins. That’s our goal and vision. That’s what we set out to achieve and we know we can do it together.”
He added that Nigeria can deploy technology to solve the most critical challenge of the country which is insecurity.
“With satellite unit intelligence-gathering which also has to do with movement which can be monitored through satellite, is very critical.
“This will provide a lot of employment. More importantly, there is no way in the world that government does it alone. That is why we are talking about public-private partnerships. It is just inevitable.
“This is a project that we will receive with two arms and we will hug the projects and we will take the project to the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
“We will do all that we need to do to see that this project gets to where it should,” Mamora added.
In his remarks, the Minister of State for Science, Technology and Innovation, Chief Henry Ikoh said the Federal Government is very serious about commercialisation and innovation and assured that he would support the projects.
Earlier, the director-general, National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Dr. Halilu Shaba said the Planetarium and Museum building was commissioned in April 2018 with the ultimate objective of providing education and entertainment services to Nigeria about space science and technology will also generate revenue for the Federal Government as is the practice globally.
“The project is going to upscale our GDP, employ our public and be used for education services. We will be using it in our hospital and deploy it for commercial purposes.
“The project will be the first of its kind in Nigeria and most African countries will educate, entertain, enlighten and train visitors and tourists on celestial navigation. By so doing, the project widens the scope of horizons of students and tourists,” he explained.
The director-general, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Dr. Joe Ohiani said both projects will create about 10,000 direct and indirect jobs, enhance tourism, boost capacity and create a great innovation in the country.
“We are bringing [in] a private sector, so that they will develop from where the government stopped and also expand it, so that the country will benefit from it.
“The broadband project will generate about N28 billion and the planetarium/museum project will also create N20billion. Both projects will attract foreign investors to the country,” Ohiani added.
