TheCable

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the change of name of the ministry of science and technology, to the ministry of science, technology and innovation.

Ogbonnaya Onu, minister of science, technology and innovation, announced the development at a media briefing in Abuja, on Friday.

The minister noted that in 2017, the federal executive council (FEC) approved the national science, technology and innovation roadmap (NSTIR 2017-2030), which he said is “to use science, technology and innovation (STI) to catalyse Nigeria’s economic growth and competitiveness”.

“This document laid out a core policy for driving positive socio-economic outcomes through science, technology and innovation in all activities of the economy,” NAN quoted Onu as saying.

He added that the approval of the roadmap necessitated the ministry’s change of name as approved by the presidency, noting that the new development will require an innovation agenda through a branding campaign, in line with its expected mandate in ensuring productivity and economic growth.

Onu, who explained that the name-change will support the generation and application of knowledge to solve socio-economic challenges, said it will also help to enable legal and policy frameworks to reflect institutional and organisational arrangements and effective coordination.

While noting that “there has been a missing link with the statutory responsibility of the ministry”, Onu said the decision by the president will ensure that what is lacking is adequately addressed.

“Immediately we are able to commercialise research and development breakthroughs, the nation’s global competitiveness ranking will improve tremendously with varying degrees of development that are sustainable,” he added.

“These include a robust STI ecosystem that will accommodate continuous system improvement, product quality enhancement and guaranteed standardisation of ‘made-in-Nigeria’ goods and services.”

The minister also said Nigeria will experience indigenous industralisation with adequate platform for higher productivity, and gave the assurance that the present administration will ensure improvement in value-added components of the economy.