Transformation agenda will fail without science and tech – Shagari

Speaking in Abuja at the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP)’s 2013 tech mart and techno expo, Barrister Shagari said science and tech sector which is saddled with innovation and development still gets paltry budget from the government.According to him, inadequate funding by the government should be blamed for lack of ingenuity among […]

Speaking in Abuja at the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP)’s 2013 tech mart and techno expo, Barrister Shagari said science and tech sector which is saddled with innovation and development still gets paltry budget from the government.
According to him, inadequate funding by the government should be blamed for lack of ingenuity among our researchers and students.
He said government does not encourage Nigerian investors and that is why most of them prefer to stay abroad.
He said:“ Nigeria is blessed with knowledge people who are doing fine many fields across the world. But the problem is that we don’t encourage them; we do not celebrate them unless we are going to make money out of it. That is one problem we really need to look at very seriously so that we can have many innovators and investors who would be willing to set up factories in the country.
“Up to this moment I am talking to you, I have not seen any investors that have been honoured in this country in such a manner that would encourage other investors. Let the Super Eagles win a cup you will see how the government and even the private sector would be falling over themselves to honour them because they want the President to know that they support transformation agenda.  But there is no transformation agenda without transforming our technological development into technology in this country.”
Earlier in his speech, the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of  Science and Technology Hajia Rabi Jimeta said technology is a major instrument for global trade and competitiveness and the prime engine of economic prosperity.
She said it is sad that much of what have been developed from the country’s research institutions are neither known to the public nor are they are transformed into products and services for sustained industrial growth and development.  
She promised that the government would continue to encourage Nigerian innovators and investors in the commercialization of their developed products.