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| Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu |
The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, has said that Nigeria’s global competitiveness ranking has improved from the Position of 124 out of 140 countries by 2015/2016 to a position of 115 out of 140 countries by 2018/ 2019.
Onu made this statement during the opening of council session of the National Council on Science, Technology and Innovation on Thursday in Abuja.
He said that resolutions arrived at the various meetings and many of the policies initiated by the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (FMSTI) and approved by the Federal executive Council (FEC) owe a lot to the resolution of the council meetings.
Onu added that the National Science, Technology and Innovation Roadmap, 2017-2030, the National Strategy for Competitiveness in Raw material and Product Development; the Presidential Executive Order 5, the Methanol fuel policy and leather and leather Products Policy have contributed in improving the global competitiveness ranking of our nation as recorded by the World Economic Forum.
The Minister reiterated that work is ongoing on new policies with draft copies that will soon be presented to the Federal Executive Council for approval.
He said that all policies initiated by the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation have made very significant contributions to national development and contribute in making our economy to be a knowledge based and innovation driven economy as against the previous situation where the economy was almost dependent on commodities.
Onu further said that during the 2022 Science expo,President Muhammadu Buhari commissioned the Science Technology TV (STITV) to help in the advocacy. The STI TV he added will bring Science, Technology and Innovation to every home such that all Nigerian will see STI as a way of life.
Onu stressed on the need for all the states to take full advantage of the council meetings for planning the pathway for the development of their states.
Earlier, the governor of Kano, represented by the deputy governor Dr. Yusuf Gawuna, said that for any nation to attain sustainable development it must embrace, deploy and apply STI in an appropriate and efficient manner.
He added that since the revolution of Science and Technology and the industrial revolution, it has been observed that the world is owned by those who know technology and not by those who buy technology.
