‘Nigeria needs roadmap for nanotechnology policy, development’

• As Ogbonnaya Onu Delivers Address At LAUTECH Conference

Head, LAUTECH Nanotechnology Research Group and Professor of Microbiology at Ladoke Akintola University (LAUTECH), Agbaje Lateef has said that the country needs to evolve a roadmap for nanotechnology development.

In a statement announcing LAUTECH NANO 2020 conference opening on October 27, Lateef said it is important because the technology has a lot of applications in agriculture, medicine, renewable energy, national security, engineering, consumer products and sustainable environment, amongst others, which Nigeria can benefit from its adoption.

The conference with the theme, ‘Human Existence and Resource Utilisation: Extending the Frontiers through Nanotechnology’ is being organised by the LAUTECH Nanotechnology Research Group (NANO+), a frontline research group on nanotechnology in Nigeria.

Expected to give the keynote address at the conference is the Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu. Scholars, policy makers and medical fields would be at the conference to discuss research activities that could engender development through the multidisciplinary field of nanotechnology. 

Lateef stated that for Nigeria to derive maximum benefits from nanotechnology research, government at all levels and stakeholders must increase funding to education sector. 

The group calls on technocrats, industrialists, funding agencies and government to support its quest for innovative research in nanotechnology for the benefit of the nation and humanity at large. 

The impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated that the conference be conducted via Zoom. Expectedly, the conference would be declared open by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Michael Olufisayo Ologunde on, October 27.