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Nigeria’s Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, has said that the Federal Government will increase its investment in space technology because of its tremendous benefits to the country. Speaking at the inauguration of Astronomy Observatory Complex of the Centre for Basic Space Science in Nsukka in Enugu State, the minister said that the Centre for Basic Science was keying into astronomy, which would enhance the growth of Gross Domestic Product in areas such as medicine, manufacturing, education, agriculture and communication.
The report by Nigeria’s Punch newspaper on Tuesday quoted a statement by the ministry as that the minister stated that the government’s decision to accord priority to space science development was to improve the quality of life of Nigerians and that space science technology would boost telemedicine, agriculture and manufacturing.
Dr Ogbonnaya Onu
The minister said that the Centre for Basic Science was keying into astronomy, which would enhance the growth of Gross Domestic Product in areas such as medicine, manufacturing, education, agriculture and communication.
He called on the private sector to take adequate advantage of the products that were coming out from research centres for commercialisation and reiterated the tremendous importance of space science technology in the development of the economy.
According to the minister, commercialisation of research findings will result in new products and services being created for consumption by the Nigerian public and the world at large.
Onu said that the government was committed to making space science technology an important segment of the economy and called on Nigerians to maximise the potential in the space science technology sector to grow the economy, provide jobs, fight poverty and create wealth for the nation.
He commended the National Space Research and Development Centre for putting up a beautiful edifice for office accommodation for the centre and urged it to develop a comprehensive programme for students of secondary and tertiary institutions to acquire knowledge in space science technology.
The minister said the products of the centre would be useful in the aviation sector and that the collaboration between research centres and universities should be strengthened.
In his address, the Director-General/Chief Executive of NARSDA, Prof Saidu Mohammed, said the centre was established to build capacity that would address the development needs of the country in several areas.
He said the construction of the observatory complex started 15 years ago and commended the present administration for seeing to its completion.
Published in journalducameroun.com. See original publication HERE
