How Science & Tech sector fared in 2017
MOU withMay & Baker on commercialisation N50bn food supplements
The Federal Government and May & Baker Nigeria PLC signed a Memorandum of Understanding which would see them sharing N50 billion revenue every year through the commercialisation of two therapeutic and nutriceutical food products developed by the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO).
The N50bn annual revenue target would be increased in the course of time when the company would have taken the food supplements to markets outside the country, the government said.
FG’s Techno Expo
Another major science and technology event in 2017 was the Techno Expo organised by the Federal Government in April. About 3000 scientists and local and foreign investors showcased their inventions at the event.
Nigeria launched nano satellite
Nigeria launched a new satellite, NigeriaEduSat-1, into orbit in May 2017.
NigeriaEduSat- 1 was launched at Cape Canaveral in Florida, US.
Designed in constellation with five other countries - Japan, Mongolia, Bangladesh, Ghana, and Thailand with a total number of 15 engineers, the nano satellites were launched into orbit aboard SpaceX rocket and released from the International Space Station with an orbital parameter of altitude 460 kilometres and inclination of 15.6.
Nigeria, Cuba came together on research, innovation
Nigeria partnered with the Republic of Cuba on science and technology, especially in the production of vaccines, and such other areas in health care which Cuba is known to have excelled.
The government said the collaboration would make our health care services efficient through research and innovations.
“We should also be able to maintain the equipment used in hospitals and also grow research to encourage local manufacturing of drugs which will help to strengthen our economy, help to diversify and also help us to migrate from this resource based to a knowledge based innovations economy,” the minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, said.
FEC approved science, engineering, technology guidelines
The Federal Executive Council last year approved a new and revolutionary Policy Guidelines for the Design and Execution of Programmes, Project and Contract with Science, Engineering and Technology components.
The government said the approved guidelines would enable Nigeria produce what it needs and export the surplus, adding that “it will enable us conserve our foreign reserves and strengthen foreign trade with multiplier benefits to our economy.
“Its implementation will strengthen and deepen the role of science, technology and innovation in the future development goals of Nigeria. It will help create a new nation that will guarantee the happiness and prosperity of Nigerians.
“This will help Nigeria promote national selfreliance by promoting a radical shift in emphasis toward entrenching science, technology and innovation as an invaluable component of virtually all strata of our national development process,”the government added .
FG to engage more indigenous professionals
The government promised to engage more indigenous engineers and scientists to develop the country’s economy.
Illegal logging rosewood trees Chinese worries FG
The Federal Government said rampant logging of rosewood trees across the country by some Chinese and their Nigerian collaborators was depleting the forest of by reserves.
The Director General of Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Dr Husseini Ibrahim, said the tropical forest resources had been rendered unproductive by activities of loggers.
“The timber merchants working for Chinese businessmen are moving from one state to the other, depleting rosewood resources in their forests, leaving blighted and raped landscapes behind,” he said.
He said the Chinese businessmen were exploiting a lax regulating and enforcement environment, loopholes in existing laws and unwillingness of some government officials to give bite to existing policy on illegal trade in the export of the country’s forest resources.
He said this has culminated in the harvesting and export of thousands of logs to China since 2013.
According to him, the illegal trade which gulped more than $1.3 billion dollars in West Africa alone, is decimating forests.
56 tech inventors get N66m
The Federal Government gave N66 million to 56 technology inventors to help them turn their inventions to finished products.
Government said it was bent on pulling Nigeria out of the economic woods by making it an industrialised nation.
The gesture to the tech inventors would create thousands of jobs across the country once their industries take off, it said.
FG inaugurates NCCC to fast-track economic recovery
The Federal Government inaugurated the National Consultative Committee for Competitiveness (NCCC) in Raw Materials and Products Development to fast-track the economic recovery of the country.
It noted that the country would save N3 trillion with proper implementation of the national strategy aimed at reducing importation by 10.8 per cent in the first five years of its implementation.
Committee to address tech gap in security set up
The Federal Government set up an inter-ministerial committee to address the security issues and promote the use of science and technology in the security system.
FG promised to float ICT databank
The Federal Government said it would create an ICT databank that would aid research and innovations in the country.
The ICT databank would strengthen the role of science, technology and innovation in all sectors of the economy.
“This will help our dear nation to strengthen her currency, heal the sick, reduce poverty, defeat ignorance, provide housing for all, protect the environment and conquer hunger”, the government said.