Onu promises to build on the foundation he put in place during his first time in office
By Ene Ikpa
Honorable Minister of Science and Technology Dr Ogbonnaya ONU has called on the private sector to invest in research findings to enable a revamp in the country’s economy.
The minister made this known at maiden world press conference on his re -appointment into the Federal Executive Council, held at the ministry of science and technology in Abuja .
Speaking at the event, Onu recounted his achievements in the past despite the hurdles he met on ground.
“We worked hard in formulating and implementing policies like the The science and technology and innovation Road map 2017- 2030 ; the National strategy for competitiveness in Raw materials and product development ; and Nigeria’s first leather policy which helped to champion the cause of moving Nigeria from a resource based to a knowledge- based , innovation driven economy.
Using the platform provided by this position to encourage the youth to embrace science and technology in nation building.
Since Nigeria has been known to be a consuming nation, he stated that he pursued vigorously the protection of intellectual property and commercialization of research findings, that helped Nigeria to become a producer nation capable of producing locally many of its needs.
However, the minister has promised to build on the foundation he has put in place during his first tenure and ensure that the executive order no 5 is passed into law and fully implemented.
Since the developed nations of the world measure progress by the number of patents, research scientists, and engineers they produce, he said the ministry will document and take a survey of the patents , research scientists and engineers in the country.
Furthermore, Onu intends to make efforts towards achieving food security by encouraging competition among researchers and engineers in the country to develop appropriate technology’s to drive the process.
As a way of fighting corruption, he said ” we will work to develop appropriate technologies , equipment and machines needed to secure our nation as well as improve our voting system. This has become very important in the maintenance of peace ,as no meaningful ,inclusive and sustainable development can take place in the environment of insecurity and greed”
He also Reiterated on the need to deploy technology to help realise President’s aspiration of moving 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in ten years time, by actively involving every Nigerian in the utilisation of science and technology for nation building.
