TECHDIGEST – The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu said the surest way to move Nigerians out of poverty is to provide the people with skills that will last them a lifetime.

Dr Onu said this when he received, in a working visit, the Ambassador of Switzerland to Nigeria, Amb. Georg Steiner, on Tuesday at his office in Abuja.

The Minister said the skills to be imparted into Nigerians will enable them to become more productive, making it possible for the country to have higher global competitiveness in ranking.

He informed the Swiss envoy of the Federal Government’s unrelenting effort to diversify the economy, which is evident as Nigeria’s earnings from non-oil sources exceed that of crude oil.

Dr Onu also noted that the Ministry has been given a further mandate to supervise innovations all around the country. He added that Nigeria will attain self-reliance in many areas of socio-economic life.

The Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, his Excellency Amb. Georg Steiner said their visit was to form a mutually beneficial strong bond in STI development.

He invited the Minister to the “Swiss – Nigerian Innovation Forum 2021-2022; Technology for a Green Future”, which he described as a strong platform to accelerate STI relationships with both countries.

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TECHDIGEST – Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (FMSTI) has granted the sum of Five Million naira (N5million) to students of Marist College Yangoji Abuja, for inventing the Sensebox and Aquabot device.

Sensebox and Aquabot device are monitoring devices for air and water pollution.

The presentation was made by the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu in his office on Tuesday in Abuja.

Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu with the students of Marist College Yangoji Abuja who invented the Sensebox and Aquabot device

The Minister said that with the feat achieved by the students by inventing the Sensebox and Aquabot device, Nigeria is well positioned to become a hub for creativity.

He added that Nigeria will meet all her needs, rely less on import and create wealth for the nation once becoming a creativity hub.

On intellectual property protection, he added that the Ministry will patent the key innovation through one of its agencies; The National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP).

He further said that the patenting will come at no cost to the school.

Dr. Onu appealed to parents to motivate their children, and make sure they inculcate values of hardwork, respect and commitment which is the foundation of every child.

He urged on the students, to fly the Nigerian flag high at the upcoming virtual Students for Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE) competition on the 13th of August this year.

Earlier the President/CEO of the research team for Aquabot, Mabocha Sharon who is a SS3 student of Marist College said they are seeking the support of the Ministry to patent their innovation.

She also added that they need financial support to help develop their innovation, build science laboratory that could benefit other students.

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TECHDIGEST – The Federal Government has approved the renaming of Federal Ministry of Science and Technology to the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

The name​​ change, according to the government, is to reposition the Ministry to drive the innovation agenda and catalyse Nigeria’s economic growth.

The name change was announced on Friday, by the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu at a press conference in Abuja.

According to the minister, “ This change of name will help meet the needs of other sectors of the Nigerian economy and all stakeholders, by supporting the generation and application of knowledge and innovation to solve socio-economic challenges, as well as providing a policy and funding environment that will establish the National System of Innovation (NSI).”

On repositioning the Ministry, Dr. Onu stated that Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) is the engine that will drive Nigeria on the road to success, prosperity, self-reliance and greatness.

He further said that the repositioning of the Federal Ministry will result in Research and Development (R&D) that is industry and services demand driven, adding that it would lead to rapid commercialisation and ultimately improve Nigeria’s competitiveness ranking.

Dr. Onu said that to move Nigeria to its desired global competitiveness level, STI will help accelerate a demand-driven, knowledge-based economy.

On promoting commercialisation of R&D results, he said; “when we succeed, it will lead to R&D breakthroughs and inventions that could be commercialised. With the right policy and legal framework to protect intellectual property, we can effectively promote commercialization in all activity sectors in the value chain for supply of raw materials, goods and services”.

The benefits of the name change and repositioning of the Federal Ministry, he added, include; irreversible indigenous industrialization; platform for higher productivity; job creation and quality employment generation in the economy and significant level of poverty alleviation.

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TECH DIGEST – The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu says Nigeria needs effective deployment of technology and innovation to achieve sustainable sporting development in the country.

The minister stated this when he received the Vice-president of Counseil International du Sport Militaire (CISM) and the President of the Organisation of Military sport in Africa, Brig. Gen. Maikano Abdullahi in his office on Monday.

The Minister commended the Military in stemming the tide of Insurgency, banditry, and other criminal activities that are prevalent in the country.

He further hailed the resolve of international military bodies for embarking on sporting activities, adding that the sporting activities will create camaraderie and strengthen bonds between nations.

Dr. Onu said that the Organisation of Military Sports in Africa (OMSA) under the stewardship of Brig. Gen. Maikano Abdullahi will improve Nigeria’s security fortunes and relationship with other African countries, especially in the Sahel region.

Earlier the President of the Organisation of Military sport in Africa, Brig. Gen. Maikano Abdullahi said his organisation seeks the support and partnership of the Minister, in organising the first-ever Sahel region military games.

He said the competition will focus on football, golf, and marathon race, to prove the strength and stamina of military officers and soldiers alike.

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TECH DIGEST – Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, Minister of Science and Technology, says Nigeria needs to reform its electoral system by adopting electronic voting to help eliminate errors caused by a human factor in compiling results.

This was contained in a statement released by Josephine Adamu, Press and Public Relations Officer of the ministry, on Tuesday in Abuja.

According to her, the minister said this during a facility visit to the Electronic Development Institute (ELDI) in Awka, Anambra on Monday.

The statement said Onu was positive that if the country reformed its electoral system and adopted e-voting, election malpractices, fraud and less credible results would be a thing of the past.

He said that with this in place, more Nigerians would be willing to participate in the nation’s electoral processes.

Onu said the nation’s democratic processes would experience tremendous improvement with these reforms.

“Democracy is like a living organism that grows like humans, animals and plants but for this to happen, we need electronic voting which shall reduce malpractices associated with human errors,” he said.

He noted that with the level of innovative work done at the ELDI, Nigeria would no longer need to import electronic products.

He said rather than import the products, they shall be produced in the country to satisfy local demand and the surplus would be exported.

He added that this would help improve the nation’s gross domestic product.

The minister said his ministry had teamed up with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to build voting machines with encouraging results.

He also said Nigeria had a population of over 200 million people and needed to be in a position to feed its population, reiterating that to achieve food security, mechanised farming must be embraced.

He enjoined investors to see farming as a lucrative business, while calling for more investment in large scale farming equipment such as tractors and harvesters, among others.

Earlier, the Managing Director of the Institute, Dr Patrick Okwu, commended the minister and his team for the vigour and resilience brought to the science and technology sector.

He said the annual science and technology expo had not only brought healthy competition among various research and academic institutions, but also brought to the limelight technological capacity of Nigerians.

Okwu appealed for more funding from the government to enable the institute to commercialise recently developed inventions and innovations.

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