Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, minister of Science and Technology, said science and technology is the key that will enable Nigerians to become the true masters of their own destinies.
Onu said this during the inauguration of the Technology Orientation Centre (TOC) built by the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) in Abuja.
He said that “no country has ever become truly great without science and technology”.
He said the building of the centre showed that science, technology and innovation could drive Nigeria’s search for a new beginning.
“It shows that when challenged, Nigerians can break new frontiers and create new opportunities that will move Nigeria away from a resource-based to a knowledge-based and innovation-driven economy,” he said.
“I believe that if we pay greater attention to innovation and vigorously pursue the conversion of research findings into viable goods and services, we can recreate the middle class, strengthen the Naira and secure a better future for ourselves and generations yet unborn,” he said.
The minister said the centre would help the entrepreneurs, researchers and innovators gain greater access to the necessary processes that would fast track the commercialisation of inventions using indigenous technologies.
“This will help create jobs, create wealth, reduce poverty and stimulate growth in the economy.”
