Nigeria moves towards global competitiveness for prosperity

The Federal Government is developing an effective and sustainable strategic framework for prosperity, wealth and job creation towards enhancing global competitiveness for productivity.

The move, government said, was in line with the recommendations of the African Research and Innovation Forum (FARI), which requires Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) member states to emplace and popularise inclusive policies to promote Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) with the support of the academies of sciences.

Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Adeleke Mamora, stated this, in Lagos, during a South West dialogue on the establishment and implementation of technology and innovation centres for global competitiveness and productivity by the strategic implementation task office for Presidential Executive Order No. 5.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Monilola Udoh, the minister said the objectives of the technology and innovation centres was to ensure that products and services are globally competitive, improve on the present understanding of the role of STI in the socio-economic development of the country, towards moving Nigeria from resource to knowledge-based economy; reduction and stoppage of the present Research and Development (R&D) work in done in silos.

He said the move was also aimed at establishing a framework for consultation, sharing experience, information and practices, as well as creation of a conducive environment for interaction among scientists working on projects in different geopolitical zones of the country and beyond.

The centres, he added, will also serve as medium for presentation and analysis of viable research findings and results for possible patenting and commercialisation.

He said: “It is the vision of our country under the 2022 STI Policy to have large, strong, diversified, sustainable and competitive economy that effectively harnesses the talents and energies of its people and responsibly exploits its natural endowments to guarantee a high standard of living and quality of life for its citizens by 2030.”

The message is clear; that only the best is good enough to achieve our vision and mission for the country.

“It is widely known and accepted that even when all the alliances are formed and enhanced productivity achieved, the challenge of conformance to standards remains a most constraint factor for our dear country to attain improved global competitiveness.

“The Federal Government is aware of the unfortunate situations created by substandard, counterfeit and defective materials, goods, processes and even systems on our people and trading partners. This we shall tackle under the Presidential Executive Order through interventions to ensure that strong regulatory frameworks are deployed with all sense of responsibility, so that we can build trust and confidence in our goods and services.”

Project Manager, Strategy Implementation Task Unit (SITU), for Implementation of the National Strategy for Competitiveness in Raw Material and Products Development in Nigeria, Henry Eteama, said: “Government is imbibing certain culture to enable the country achieve the objective of putting Nigeria to the global scene.

“To achieve this, we must leverage the power of STI to change and imbibe the culture, from mere research and learning- based to R&D that is problem-solving, industry and services demand-driven.”

Director, Science, Programmes and Promotion, Lagos State, Iyabo Phillips, who represented the Commissioner for Science and Technology, said the state would partner with the Federal Government to give opportunity to researchers to get grants, as well as make the state achieve its smart city vision.