The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu yesterday said the present state of Nigeria’s economy may not be able to withstand the shock of the declining crude oil prices.
He called for diversification of the economy from oil to the science and technology sector.
Onu, who spoke during a meeting with former Ministers of Science and Technology in his office, said the Buhari administration would make science and technology the cornerstone of the nation’s development.
He also urged the Federal Government to improve the budgetary allocation to the sector
The former ministers said science and technology if properly explored, would become the nation’s inexhaustible oil for the future, the cornerstone of development and wealth creation and undoubtedly create jobs in an unprecedented manner for teeming youths in the country.
They enjoined the minister whom they described as a “round peg in a round hole” to use his wealth of experience to change the fortune of the ministry by engendering the needed attention from government and the undeserved perception from members of the public about the critical role science and technology play in national development .
They commended the minister for the initiative which they described as first of its kind in the annals of the ministry.
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