The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, on Monday in Abuja said the nation would fully embark on upgrading instrument of warfare through research and innovation.
Onu made the affirmation on Monday in Abuja while delivering a lecture on“ National Science and Technology Policy in Nigeria: An Overview“ at the National Defence College Course 26.
He said the nation ought to embrace Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) as important instruments for local development of modern weapons needed to secure the nation.
According to him, no nation can sell its best weapons to others; hence, “ `We must build our own”.
“ Our goal should be the security achieved through the upgrade of instruments of warfare by research and innovation in other to effectively compete with the best in the world.
“ We must secure our citizens and safeguard our nation.
“We cannot meaningfully achieve this without placing emphasis on science and technology, especially considering the urgent need for us to build a strong and resilient economy that is diversified in order to enable us to withstand any future shock,“ he said
The minister charged the participants that were members of Armed Forces to compliment the achievements of the founding fathers of modern Nigeria who were great men and women of vision.
He maintained that the duty of Armed Forces was to help to make the country safer, stronger, more secure, peaceful, more prosperous and respected.
According to him, the challenge facing Nigeria is to initiate bold and visionary policies that will help move the economy in the direction of diversification.
“ Such that when the demand for crude oil drops in the global market as we recently witnessed, we can absorb the shock and avoid experiencing the trauma of recession, which has always had adverse effects on our economy.
“This way we can begin the process of preparing for a post-crude oil era for the benefit of present and future generations of Nigerians.
“Today, I will speak to you on the very important efforts we are making to use science and technology to redirect our development process, so as to diversify our economy in an economy capable of fighting and reducing poverty ,“ he said.
Onu said the cardinal purpose of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology (FMST) was to accelerate innovation in areas that would stimulate national self-reliance by using what the nation produced and producing what the nation would use.
He also said that the FMST was also intensifying efforts to ensure that nation deployed all facets of technology to fast-track national development process.
“ This explains why we have recently articulated and presented the National Science, Technology and Innovation Roadmap 2017-2030(NSTIR-2030).
“This was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on June 24, 2017.
NSTIR is designed to move the country away from a resource-based to knowledge-based and innovation driven economy.
In his remarks, Rear Admin Adeniyi Osinowo, Commandant of National Defense College, noted that Policy implementation remained major problem in various parts of the world.
Osinowo suggested collaboration among stakeholders in order to devise indigenous solution to national problems.(NAN)
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