NOTAP DG Blames Foreign Technology for Naira Continue Fall Against Dollar

Dr. Danazumi Ibrahim, director-general, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), has said the Naira will continue to be weak if the country remains largely dependent on the importation of foreign technologies.

Ibrahim said this in an interview with journalists after the inauguration of the agency’s North-East Zonal Office at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi.

He said, “Our nation continuously import foreign technologies and that is why our naira is weak. So long as we continue to import and we don’t export, there is no way our economy will grow.

“The only option to reverse it is to use our intellects to develop these technologies, to substitute imported technology with locally made technologies so that we begin to translate our knowledge into products and services, begin to export our knowledge outside the country, that is when we will begin to make money and our naira will become stronger.”

According to Ibrahim, nations are judged based on their capacity to bring on new innovations and technologies.

“The whole world is now driven by knowledge and Nigeria cannot be an exception,” he said.

He said NOTAP would continue to encourage the utilisation of knowledge to improve the quality of life of the citizens.

He said, “Any research and development that does not eventually become a product or service has little or no value to the economy.

“Nigeria has a lot of resources; Japan doesn’t seem to have one-tenth of the resources Nigeria has, but Japan is among the nations you can reckon with in global economy because they are using their intellect; so, we should borrow from them.

“God has blessed us with human and natural resources; it is now left for us to use our human resources to harness these natural resources. That is what would eventually catapult Nigeria to economic prosperity.”

Speaking earlier, the Vice-Chancellor, ATBU, Professor Mohammed Abdulazeez, commended NOTAP for showing interest in the institution by siting its North-East Zonal Office in the university.