Dr Francis Chizea, acting director general, National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), has said that the Agency currently has the human capacity to design, build and launch various satellites from Nigeria, if the required facilities are provided.
Chizea stated this when House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology paid an oversight visit to the headquarters of NASRDA in Abuja.
He said the Agency is endowed with human resources and experts that were trained in the best institutions across the globe, adding that most of them are young men and patriotic Nigerians who are ready to utilise the various trainings acquired to leapfrog Nigeria out of poverty and squalor through the application of space science and technology.
Therefore, he appealed to members of the committee to assist in the provision of necessary facilities for the Agency, particularly on the successful completion of the on-going Assembly, Integration, Texting and Design Centre (AITDC) which he described as a major facility in any space industry.
He said the facility will not only keep the various engineers and scientists fully engaged, but it will also assist the Agency in realising its various goals and objectives as encapsulated in the space road map.
The acting director general also identified underfunding and low budgetary allocations as a major constraint militating against NASRDA, which he described as the first Space Agency to be established in Africa and pleaded with members of the committee for improved budgetary allocation in order to meet various mandatory roles and objectives, and to enable the Agency compete favourably with its counterparts, particularly in the prestigious community of Space practice.
Chizea, who expressed appreciation to members of the committee for the visit being the first to be hosted since assumption of office also acknowledged the support received thus far from the entire management and staff of the Agency since he came on board.
Beni Lar, chairman, House of Representatives committee on Science and Technology, also speaking, applauded the achievements and immense contributions of NASRDA towards national development, particularly in its efforts towards accelerating the pace of development through space applications.
Lar said that the Space Agency was set up basically to encourage indigenous production and use of Space Technology for socio-economic development, pointing out that this is evident in the current efforts of the Agency on the telemedicine project as well as the use of satellite technology in the field of education, agriculture, communications and other critical sectors of the economy.
The committee chairman was particularly impressed with the achievements recorded thus far by the acting director general of the Agency, within three months of his assumption of office, saying he has not only succeeded in building on the noble achievements of the Agency, but has equally opened a new chapter in the drive towards actualising its core mandates.
Lar said the committee would continue to do its best to support the Space Agency in the successful implementation of its various programmes and projects in the actualisation of the Nigeria Space agenda.