The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Abdu Bulama, has decried Nigeria’s continued importation of raw materials inspite of abundance of the items in the country.
This was contained in a statement by Chief Press Secretary to the Minister, Mr Taiye Akinyemi, which was made available to newsmen.
The statement said that Bulama spoke when the Board of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) visited him on Friday.
The minister urged the council to have a seamless collaboration with the organised private sector to harness and utilise the abundant raw materials available in the country.
“There is no reason why all industries in the country should still be importing most of their raw materials in spite of the effort which the council has expended on research.
“Raw Materials Research and Development Council is fundamentally the nucleus of the transformation agenda of the Federal Government,” he said.
According to him, the success of the transformation agenda could only be sustained when the RMRDC is able to consolidate on its relationship with the organised private sector.
The statement also said that the chairman of RMRDC, Sen. Wali Jubrin, had earlier in his remarks, told the minister of the successes the council had recorded.
Jubrin explained that RMRDC had developed and was implementing strategic plans geared towards energising the agency and moving it to the “front burner” of national development.
He, therefore, solicited the support of the minister in the council’s efforts to make research outcomes and raw materials that could be utilised by the organised private sector available.
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.