The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, has said that strategies to attain the implementation of 0.5% (GDP) will promote creativity, Innovation together with the attendant benefit of achieving national socio-economic development.
The Minister said this at the Consultative Meeting On the Provision of Minimum Of 0.5% Of GDP for Funding Science, Technology and Innovation Sectors In The Country on Tuesday in Abuja.
Recently the Federal Government declared at the 2021 edition of the Annual STI Expo, that 0.5% of the country’s GDP will be channelled towards the development of STI to ensure continuous productivity and sustainability of the Nation.
He stated that countries that have made giant strides in sustaining their economy invest heavily in STI Sectors which has guaranteed their continuous growth as well sustained their industrial development.
According to the Minister, the decision to increase the STI funding was taken at the African Union’s executive council in 2006 to establish a target for all member states to allocate 1% of the GDP investment in research and development. The meeting he added has offered the opportunity to work out strategies for attaining the implementation of 0.5% of the GDP to the STI sector.
Earlier the Minister of State, Barr. Mohammed H. Abdullahi said that STI and its integration in the socio-economic development process must be accorded the highest priority through adequate funding in the R&D sector.
He added that Nigeria must emulate countries like China, Singapore and other Asian countries, by taking decisive action in investing heavily in STI; this will put the nation on a path of viable and sustainable economic growth.
According to the Minister, the Federal Government has resolved to allocate 0.5% to the R&D sector in a bid to fully actualise her diversification agenda, as part of its effort to put the country on the pedestal of global competitiveness.
The Gombe state Commissioner of Science, Technology and Innovation, Aishatu Umar Maigari called for the inclusion of people who are not in the R&D sector to be partakers of the increased funding for STI.
In a goodwill message, Engr. Mustapha Mahmud Kanti Bello, Commissioner for Rural Development and Education and overseeing for STI, Katsina State said the increased funding for STI is a welcome development that could unlock the economic potentials in the country.
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