FG Pledges to Build Sustainable Economy through STI

Abdu Bulama, minister of Science and Technology, has assured that the Federal Government would harness Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) to build a sustainable and competitive economy.

Bulama said this in a keynote address during at a seminar organized by UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology (FMST).

The theme of the seminar is ``Science, Technology and Innovation and the African Transformation Agenda: Making New Technologies Work for Africa’s Transformation”.

The minister said that employing STI would guarantee a high standard of living and quality of life for Nigerian citizens.

He said that the nation would focus on eradicating hunger by achieving food security, preventing and controlling disease by ensuring welfare, wealth creation, protection of space and developing physical and intellectual communication.

The minister urged the forum to ensure that the deliberations crystallised into implementable action geared toward using STI capacity to surmount African challenges and also chart the path for accelerated and sustainable development.

“It has been reported that people all over the world have high hope that new technologies will lead to healthier lives, greater social freedoms, increased knowledge and more productive livelihoods,” he said.

He observed that the combination of technological revolutions and the globalisation had integrated markets and linked people across all kinds of traditional boundaries.

According to him, STI must necessarily drive the process of development, especially the post 2015 sustainable development agenda.

Earlier, Mrs. Winiford Oyo-Ita, permanent secretary of the ministry, said that the dialogue was aimed at supporting and accelerating the African Transformation Agenda through contribution to societal development priorities.

Oyo-Ita observed that to achieve sustainable development through STI, the nation ought to put in place appropriate policy instruments to generate the desired momentum for development.

``Using the policy instrument through our development agenda as articulated in the vision 20:2020, Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including the Transformation Agenda will go a long way in achieving the desired objectives when seriously pursued.

Kasirim Nwuke, UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) representative, stated that proper application of STI would enable Africa to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development.

Nwuke urged Africans to intensify effort in using STI to meaningfully contribute to the global pool of scientific knowledge and technological innovation.