Federal Government will deploy technology to diversify the economy, according to Dr Ogbonanaya Onu, minister of Science and Technology.
He said this at the launch of the Solid Minerals Machinery and Equipment Development Institute (SOMMEDI) in Nasarawa at the weekend.
According to him, such effort will promote the country from being a consumer nation to a producer nation.
He said “the Solid Minerals Machinery and Equipment Development Institute is very important to the diversification programme of Federal Government.
“President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to making sure that our economy is diversified. The reason for this is that we cannot continue to import into our country, the things that we can indeed produce by ourselves.
“This is why this institute is very important because it will also help us to design, produce, and manufacture machinery and equipment for processing of solid minerals and by so doing, jobs will be created for our people.”
The minister also said that some organisations would be engaged in producing spare parts of the machines that could be sent to the factory for assembling.