Science ministry calls for partnership with UKAID- Africa on STI
The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, has called for stronger partnership between the Ministry and UKAID-Africa to boost knowledge in transfer of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI).
The Minister, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr Burris Nabasu, made the call when he received a delegation of UKAID UK-Africa Science Partnership in the Ministry in Abuja on Thursday.
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The minister said that Federal Government’s determination to lift more than 100 million people out of poverty,in the next 10 years could only be realised through the platform of science and technology.
He also said that inputs of UK-Aid was crucial to the realisation of such objective.
Onu, who said government initiated major policies in Science, Technology and Innovation to help drive economic diversification of the country appealed to the organisation to assist in the area of their implementation.
“We are not short of capacity but it is the implementation of such capacity,“ he said.
He disclosed that Nigeria could not achieve meaningful progress unless the tools of STI were put to good use.
The minister commended the organisation for using technology to improve the fortunes of the ordinary citizens of Nigeria.
Earlier, the Head of UKAID, UK-AFRICA, West African Team leader, Leanne Jones, said the objective of the meeting was to support and partner with countries such as Nigeria to harness science and technology for improved economic opportunities.
The head of the team said UK would deploy technology, to address poverty reduction employ digital technologies to expand broadband and internet options in Nigeria.
Dr Nee-Joo Teu, the Head of the UK Knowledge Transfer Technology, said partnership with the federal government was essential to build suitable technological models for Nigeria.
According to Teu, technological models will be friendly to the Eco-system and eventually grow Nigeria’s economy.
