By Aaron Ukodie
Science and Technology Minister, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, was very optimistic at the ongoing ministerial screening, at the senate that given what the President Mohammadu Buhari is doing and the agencies he is currently establishing, Nigeria would, in 30 years’ time, reach the current level of China in technological and scientific innovation and accomplishments.
He spoke when he took his turn to face the senators who grilled him on his achievements during his first term as minister, and what he would do differently in his second coming.
The senators sought to find out how Onu has used, and would use, his academic accomplishments, as first class chemical engineer and Doctorate Degree holder in the same field to take Nigeria to new heights in technological and scientific innovations and achievements like other countries.
According to Onu, the expected 30 year feat would be achieved through the full implementation of Executive Order 5, recently signed by President Mohammadu Buahri. The Order, according to him had the privileged of activating, for the first time, the goals of the Science and Technology Innovation Bill drafted in 1986.
Onu said the activation of that Bill, for the first time in 2016, brought about the establishment of the lead organ, which is the National Research and Innovation Council ( NRIC), headed by the president, a body that is already working to establish a National Research and Innovation Fund.
The fund, he disclosed would make money available, from both public and private that would quicken and enable funding of research and innovation.
Onu, also disclosed that establishment of two new bodies are under consideration by the NRIC that would help in the study of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. The proposal for the two bodies is now before the president for approval, he said.
His words: “Once Order 5 is fully implemented in 30 years we will be were China is now”.
The Executive order 5 was signed in February 5, 2018 to improve local content in public procurement with science, engineering and technology components.
The Executive Order also seeks to promote the application of science, technology and innovation within Nigeria.
Other components of the Order include encouraging indigenous experts in diaspora to return to their home for public procurements purposes, the giving of preference to Nigerian companies and firms by procuring authorities in the award of contracts and the creation of special immigration class for experts in African countries to work and reside in Nigeria so as to share their knowledge with Nigerian experts.
Onu who also fielded questions from the senators on his achievements in his first outing said the National Office of Technology Application (NOTAP) has begun preliminary work to set up a national data bank and once it is completed it would be of great benefit to Nigeria.
He also announced that, through NOTAP his ministry, he has been able to increase the number of innovation patents from six in 2015 to 58 by 2019.
Some of the highlights of his ministry in the past four years, he disclosed, was the increased efforts to commercialize local research findings, saying that before research findings were only limited to advancing scholarship.
He said also that there is now increased awareness by Nigerians of the importance of science and technology and that his ministry has also succeeded in moving Nigeria away from dependence on commodities-based economy to knowledge-based economy.
