From Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that it is an established fact that no nation in the world has been developed devoid of the utilisation of the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) apparatus while urging investors and stakeholders to contribute to solving industrialisation challenges.
Buhari stated this while declaring open the 7th Edition of the Science, Technology and Innovation Expo 2023, where the ‘’Think Tanks’’ (Inventors, Innovators and Researchers) of the country gathered to showcase their R&D products, goods and services for the purpose of commercialisation geared towards moving Nigeria from consumption economy to production economy.
The President who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari noted that the theme for the Science, Technology and Innovation Expo 2023, “Actualising Effective Diversification of the Nigerian Economy Through Science, Technology and Innovation (STI)” was apt saying that his administration has realised the important role played by the sector in socio-economic development, and have for the first time, convened the National Research and Innovation Council meeting, which focused on building local capacity to compete favourably with scientifically advanced economies through refined processes for funding research and innovation in the country.
According to him, “as a government, since we took over power in 2015, we demonstrated our love and desire to diversify our economy by the application of the Science, Technology and Innovation through improving the budgetary allocation of the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation; whose budget before then was so meagre that it could not have achieved any meaningful economic development.”
In his words, “In our quest to develop scientifically, we placed a special premium on the STI sector for the utilisation of our local raw materials and personnel, and so I personally signed the Presidential Executive Order No. 5 for the Planning and Execution of Projects, Promotion of Nigerian Content in Contracts, Science, Engineering and Technology on 2nd February 2018. This Order is an instrument that our Scientists, Engineers, and other Allied Professionals have been yearning for years to contribute effectively to the development of Nigeria.
He noted that it is on record that this Order did not only strengthen and support scientists, adding that it has strengthened other professions, and encouraged interprofessional collaboration towards building the capacities of Nigerians and creating opportunities for all.
He said, “In line with the provisions of the Order, I inaugurated the Presidential Monitoring and Evaluation Council (PMEC) on October 14, 2021, and have established six Technology and Innovation Centres of Excellence across the six geopolitical zones of the country, where dialogues were held with relevant stakeholders in 2022 to proffer solutions for the industrialisation of the country, geared towards job creation and wealth generation in order to arrest youth restiveness and social vices in our dear country.
“As a matter of importance attached to the objectives of the Presidential Executive Order No.5, my Administration in November 2022, approved the National Policy on Welding and Welding Related Fields as part of our efforts to fast-track industrialisation and sustainable development and this will arrest the present situation where many Nigerians outsourced welding jobs due to the emphasis placed on foreign welding certification.
He emphasised that there is no sector of the economy that will make a meaningful impact on the citizenry without utilising the inherent potentials of the Welding and Welding Related Fields, as this is the surest and easiest way to crystallise the potential of our people for greater socio-economic development.
The Nigerian President recalled that, in his speech at the 5th Edition of the Science, Technology and Innovation Expo 2021, he said, “in tandem with the decision made by the African Union Executive Council in 2006 to establish a target for all members states of 1% of GDP investment in Research and Development (R&D) in order to improve innovation, productivity and economic growth. At this junction, we want to reiterate that having come to terms with the challenges of this critical sector of the economy, we will henceforth dedicate 0.5% of our GDP to R&D in order to fast track meaningful development”.
“I would like to inform you that we have made effort to actualise this through our communication to the National Economic Council to come up with modalities in achieving this noble intention of the government.
He also congratulated the winners of this year’s 774 Young Nigerian Scientists Presidential Award (774-YONSPA) also commending their creativity and competitive spirit toward academic pursuit to become future scientists, engineers and technologists to better the lots of our nation.
“I am pleased to announce that the candidates who emerged first, second and third respectively in the final examination of the recently concluded 774 Young Nigerian Scientists Presidential Award Competition have all been granted full scholarships up to Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) level in any science-related discipline of their choice in any of our universities. It has been the practice of my Administration as we award scholarships since the maiden edition of the Science, Technology and Innovation Expo in 2017, to the three best students.
“Considering the achievement we recorded in this critical sector of our economy, which is pivotal to our socio-economic development, we will continue to support the activities and programmes of the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation through improved budgetary provisions, improved welfare of its human resources and infrastructures to enable the system play its vital roles in catering for the livelihood of the nation as well as training and re-training of its personnel, both locally and internationally for global competitiveness,” he further stated.
