The Nigerian government says efforts are on to move the nation from a resource-driven to a knowledge-driven economy.
Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Adeleke Mamora made this known to journalists at the weekly ministerial briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team.
He said: “What we hope to achieve is to move from resource-based-economy to knowledge-based. This is important because there is no resource that cannot be exhausted but one resource that you cannot exhaust is knowledge. The more you know, the more you want to know it is not exhaustible. So, that is what our goal is. That is what we want to achieve”
Talking about specific achievements by the Ministry, the Minister said it has contributed a lot to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“From 2015-2022, the nominal GDP grew from N94.4 to N199.34 trillion and the Science Tech and Innovation (STI) sector grew from N3.93 trillion to N5.35 trillion by 2022. Invariably the STI contribution to nominal GDP was 4.2 percent in 2015 but dropped for obvious reasons to 2.7 percent by 2022 essentially as a result of the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the emergence of Covid-19.
“This trend analysis shows an annual average of STI contribution of 3.6 percent and 3.5 percent for nominal GDP and real GDP. It is inspiring that in real terms, the STI contribution enhances the position of ranking among 46 specific sectors of the economy,” he said.
While highlighting the contribution of science and technology to the agricultural sector in Nigeria, the Minister said a lot has been achieved.
He said: “The estimate in terms of our population would be about 350 million by 2050 and one of the things that will remain so critical for us to sort out is food because it is often said that when you are able to satisfy food needs, then you have fought poverty.
“So, we are paying attention to improved food output to ensure that we go into food security. That is why we have introduced a special variety of yams called Taca, for the production of starch and glucose syrup, which will reduce the pressure on yam, cassava and maize for the production of industrial raw materials.
“Again we have been able to boost the agricultural programme through the development of improved seeds and seedlings that are distributed to farmers. These include cowpea, rice, ginger, banana, plantain, rice, cassava, sugar and many others.”
He emphasised that the seeds being developed by agencies of the ministry are seeds that are resistant to pests and flooding so as to have greater yield.
Mamora said various preservation methods have also been developed by the ministry through its agencies, to reduce the rate of losses by farmers.
He further said the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation is contributing a lot to the health sector through the production of sickle cell and hypertension drugs as well as ventilators and disinfectants.
On job creation, the Minister said one of the agencies of the Ministry, the National Space Research and Development Agency, has been able to establish a space museum and planetarium that will create a minimum of 5000 jobs.
The Minister also announced that the Ministry had since established its own television station known as STI TV, through which it keeps the public informed of all activities of the Ministry.
Dominica Nwabufo
