The Federal Government has called on educational institutions in the country to come up with quality research and innovation for Nigeria’s economic growth.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani made the call in Abuja, according to a statement made available on Sunday by the Head of Press and Public Relations, Kania Andeyaba.
Tijani while receiving the Vice Chancellor of Veritas University, Reverend father, Hyacinth Ichoku with the Management staff for the “Presentation of Africa Innovation Challenge 2023 Award” said, “You can almost see the direct quality of academic institution to the quality of any nation. Every nation relies on research and development to be able to progress”.
The minister said, no nation in the world can progress without a sound academic or tertiary institution churning out quality and dependable innovations that can add value to its economy.
He said, humanity is constantly in search for better ways to do things and improve significantly.
The minister believed that could only come through useful research and development from academic institutions that are the sole custodians.
Dr. Tijani disclosed that it is the responsibility of academic institutions to groom and train learners to become innovators that will innovate technical solutions for the country’s future development.
“The way we look at education or curriculum and how we train workforce for the future itself, is fast changing.Not only do we need to raise and groom strong people to be part of the workforce that will lift our nation and help the economy to prosper, we also need to understand that the world demands we have innovators”, he added.
He further challenged Nigerian universities on training people who are creators and have the capabilities to solve problems and challenges in the society.
He cited the examples of borders being melting, security crisis within or outside of the country that can affect nation e.g, like covid 19 that emanated from China.
The minister believes that how to address such unprecedented challenges even before they come, can only come from innovation.
He mentioned that not just training people, but having those that can drive the innovation that will bring about economic development.
He equally mentioned that the country is endowed with rich resources so government need people who are builders, innovators, entrepreneurs that will transform those resources for the greater good of the populace.
Tijani said that as ministry, “while we encourage the private sector to invest, we need the academic sector to join us on coming with ground breaking research that will ensure that Nigeria is a true leader in the African continent”.
The highpoint of the event was the presentation of the sum of $20,000 cash award to Veritas university for winning ATU 2023 Innovation Challenge in Nairobi, Kenya recently.
The minister on behalf of the federal government and the ministry commended Veritas University with a remark that the institution has become a model.
The Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Engr. Faruk Yabo also felicitates with the VC and the Management for a show of honour and how the institution represented the nation well.
In his remarks, the Vice Chancellor of Veritas University Reverend Father Hyacinth Ichoku talked about the challenge of getting industrialists and investors in turning those researches into products for commercialisation purposes.
