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| Ogbonnaya Onu |
The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Ogbonnaya Onu (Dr) has said that the strategies to attain the implementation of 0.5% (GDP) will promote creativity and innovation as well as enhance the achievement of national socio-economic development.
He said this during the Consultative Meeting on the Provision of the Minimum of 0.5% GDP to fund Science, Technology and Innovation sectors in the country on Tuesday January 17, 2022 in Abuja.
“Recently the Federal Government declared at the 2021 edition of the Annual STI Expo that 0.5% of the countryโs GDP will be channelled towards the development of STI to ensure continuous productivity and sustainability of the nation. Countries that have made giant strides in sustaining their economy, invest heavily in STI sectors and these have guaranteed their continuous growth as well as sustained their industrial development,” the Minister stated.
According to the him, the decision to increase the nation’s STI funding was taken at the African Union Executive Council in 2006 to establish a target for all member states to allocate 1% of their GDP investment to research and development. The meeting, he added has offered the opportunity to work out the strategies for attaining the implementation of 0.5% GDP to the STI sector.
Earlier in his remarks, the Minister of State for Science, Technology & Innovation, Mohammed Abdullahi (Barr) inferred that STI and its integration into the socio-economic development process must be accorded the highest priority through adequate funding in the R&D sector. He added that Nigeria must emulate countries like China, Singapore and other Asian countries by taking a decisive action towards investing heavily in STI as this will put the nation on a path of viable and sustainable economic growth.
According to Abdullahi, the Federal Government has resolved to allocate 0.5% to the R&D sector in a bid to fully actualise her diversification agenda, as part of its efforts to put the country on the pedestal of global competitiveness.
In his view, the Gombe State Commissioner for Science, Technology and Innovation, Aishatu Umar Maigari (Dr) called for inclusion of people who are not in the R&D sector to become partakers in the increased funding for STI.
In a goodwill message delivered at the event, the Commissioner for Rural Development and Education, Mustapha Mahmud Kanti Bello (Engr), who is overseeing the STI in Katsina State observed that the increased funding for STI is a welcome development that could unlock the economic potentials in the country.
