Nnaji insists on science, technology to address national challenges

Minister of Innovation Science and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji has emphasized the need to harness Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) in addressing pressing national challenges.

Nnaji, who made the statement in Abuja at the launch of the Sankore Project, explained that the   gathering underscores the collective commitment to harnessing Science, Technology, and Innovation to address some of the most pressing national challenges confronting Nigeria and Ghana.

He listed some of the challenges to include economic diversification, job creation, climate resilience, improved public health outcomes, food security, and sustainable energy development.

“The objectives of the Sankore Project resonate deeply with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 8-Point Agenda, especially its emphasis on Technology Advancement, Capacity Building, and Economic Growth.

“The Sankore Project promises to deliver innovative solutions that will significantly enhance economic growth, improve public service delivery, and raise living standards across our region. Importantly, it seeks to establish robust frameworks to ensure coordinated project delivery and rigorous monitoring of outputs and impacts,” the minister said.

He disclosed that the initiative, generously supported by UK International Development with an accountable grant delivery mechanism valued at up to £1.9 million Pounds, symbolizes a critical partnership between the governments of Nigeria and Ghana, UNESCO, R4D, and the United Kingdom.

Earlier in her address, Susan Mshana, Deputy Development Director, British High Commission, explained that Sankore is a new accountable grant delivery mechanism of up to £1.9million supported by the Foreign Commonwealth Development Office which will be delivered in two work streams to strengthen ST&I systems in Nigeria and Ghana as well as support the UK government’s partnership with the government of both countries on ST&I.

Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Ghana, remarked that Nigeria is a sleeping giant that needs to wake up, so the rest of Africa can wake up.

He said: “Nigeria has the capacity to lead the entire continent of Africa, and we can do this through forums such as this Sankore project. I want to thank UNESCO and the organizers for creating this opportunity for us to meet once again, to rekindle this time, not a rough war, but a war to innovate and to create the needed jobs for the teaming employees we have in our countries.

“And also, to remind us, that the challenges confronting us as a people can only be surmounted if we do what the psychologists call a superordinate goal. In psychology, superordinate goals are goals that are mutually desirable and cannot be achieved by one group alone, requiring two or more groups to cooperate to achieve them, often used to reduce intergroup conflict.

“All the agencies under the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology in Ghana, their core mandate and function is to research and innovate. In Ghana there are people who are research commercialization pessimists. They can’t stand any ideas of attempting to commercialize research.

“The time has come for us to begin looking at how we can commercialize the output of research for the good of those research institutions and for our collective growth and development.  So I, therefore, decided that we would be organising a Science and Technology Fair in Ghana to create opportunities for research institutions, academia and players in the industry to come together.”