The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, has revealed plans by the federal government to actively engage with entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and critical stakeholders to boost Innovation for the socio-economic benefit of Nigeria.
Speaking during a press conference in commemoration of the 2021 World Science Day for Peace and Development in Lagos, he urged Nigerians to use science to fully understand their identity, to make their journey to greatness smoother and easier.
“We must, as a nation, change our orientation and pay more attention to science so that we can rapidly develop our nation for the good of all. By doing this, Nigeria will become self-reliant and be respected by other nations, all over the world,” he said.
On the development of scientific policies in Nigeria, the minister highlighted the following policies – the National Science, Technology and Innovation Roadmap 2017-2030; National Strategy for Competitiveness in Raw Materials and Products Development; Presidential Executive Order No. 5; Leather and Leather Products Policy and the Methanol Fuel Production Technology Policy – as being at different stages of developed for implementation.
Onu revealed that a lot of policies on nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, bioethics and biotechnology are in different stages of completion and submission to the Federal Executive Council.
He further revealed that the newly inaugurated Inter-ministerial Committee on the Nigerian Chemical and Material Industry Action Programme (NiCMIAP) had got to work. He said observations have been made on the absence of a well-developed chemical industry, a major gap in Nigeria’s journey to achieve inclusive and sustainable industrialization of the country.
“Tremendous reforms are being made to prepare the ministry to serve the nation for not just this decade, but for a very long time to come. We have changed our vision and mission statements, our logo, core values and critical success factors. We are currently restructuring the ministry to prepare it for the emerging technologies, today and tomorrow. We are reviewing the National Science, Technology and Innovation Policy to make it responsive to the new global trends and changes,” he added.
