By Frank Momoh
The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu has charged agencies of the Ministry to come up with technological innovation to create employment opportunities for Nigerian youth.
Onu believed that the creation of more wealth and employment opportunities would productively engage the youths, thereby dousing their dependency to resort to protest in expressing their grievances
Onu, made the remarks at the quarterly management meeting of the Ministry at Abuja during the week.
He said the ministry is fully focused on its mandate to drive technological development in Nigeria and set the priority for the nation’s development based on science, technology and innovation.
The Minister urged the management of the Ministry to ensure that all its ongoing projects are completed in time. He added that this was to ensure the actualisation of the Ministry’s mandate and accelerate national development.
In his own remarks, The Minister of State, Barr. Mohammed Abdullahi, urged staff of the ministry and its agencies to improve upon their research capacity so as to achieve their mandate.
According to him, Science, Technology and Innovation policy (STI) 2015 has the capacity to trigger the socio-economic advancement of the nation.
Abdullahi further said it was high time Nigeria prioritized cyber crime and security, adding that the recent crisis in Nigeria exposed the co-ordinated attacks on sensitive government databases.
He enjoined the management of the Ministry and her agencies to ensure that their activities fall in line with the Ministry’s mandate, so as to ensure all-round development for Nigerians.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr. Edet Sunday Akpan advocated robust collaboration and synergy between the Ministry and her agencies to achieve meaningful results.
He said the promotion and development of Science, Technology and Innovation is vital to Nigeria’s growth, adding that the Ministry is fully committed to the promotion of STI all over the country.
Present at the meeting were the Minister, Minister of State, the Permanent Secretary, Directors in the Ministry and Director-Generals of the 17 agencies of the ministry.