The Federal Ministry of Science and Technology (FMST) says government is consolidating efforts to adopt Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) in the development of other sectors of the economy.
The Minister of State, Ministry of Science and Technology, Mr Mohammed Abdullahi, said this yesterday at the ongoing three-day capacity building workshop on STI Policy Design and Review Processes: Recent Advances and Methodologies in Abuja.
The workshop was organised by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in collaboration with FMST.
Abdullahi said that the STI sector since 2012, had its extant national policy implemented, impacted solar technology development, leather products development, road research, space science technology, among other benefits in science areas of the country.
He said the STI policy had many initiatives, which included establishment of National Research and Innovation Council (NRIC) and the National Research and Innovation Fund.
According to him, the ministry is making efforts to ensure that the different aspects of the policy are driven by Research and Development (R&D).
The minister said the ministry was advocating for a Research and Development (R&D) Bank that would address the challenges of research and its commercialisation for acceptable methodologies of STI.
“The implementation of the STI policy requires creating awareness, developing monitoring indicators, encouraging state collaboration and stakeholders’ participation.
“The STI sub-sector is a catalyst for industrialisation, hence the government resolved to use STI to drive other sectors of the economy.
“To mitigate the challenge of funding, FMST is strongly advocating for the establishment of R&D Bank to close the gap in the absence of venture capitalist to support the commercialisation of research findings,” he said.
Abdullahi said the FMST was part of the National Steering Committee of the National Development Plan Agenda of 2050, where the objectives of the STI roadmap 2017 to 2030 had been advanced.
He said the programme would promote innovation and technology led-industries, create enabling environment for private investments, develop R&D infrastructure that would lead to commercialisation, among other objectives.
He pledged that the ministry would be waiting to implement the outcome of the workshop and urged participants to utilise the opportunity to impact in their ability to be agents of change in the STI sector and boosting of the economy.
Officer-In-Charge, UNESCO Regional Office, Abuja, Dr Dimitri Sanga, tasked Nigerian government to adopt new processes and methodologies in STI policy adaptation in line with global standards.
Sanga, who was represented by the National Programme Officer, Natural Science Sector, Dr Enang Moma, said the global COVID-19 pandemic had caused nations of the world to scale up investments in STI ecosystems.
According to him, some nations have leveraged on the pandemic period to mobilise their scientific, social and industrial capabilities by sharing data that enabled their evidence-based decision making.
He decried that the STI ecosystem in many developing countries in Africa were weak or inadequate.
“For STI to work for sustainable development and address ongoing challenges, appropriate STI policy frameworks need to be developed,” he said.