Minister
of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, on Thursday,
expressed displeasure with the indices on technological readiness
reported by World Economic Forum (WEF).
Onu said that the
latest report, 2018/2019 rated “our institution’s global competitiveness
ranking on a scale of seven points at 2.94, technological readiness at
1.82 and innovation at 2.17 respectively.
“This scenario
implies (performance of) 42 percent, 26 percent and 31 percent for the
institution, technological readiness, and innovation,’’ he said.
The Minister said this showed that the ministry has a lot of work to do.
He
said the administration was on the path of repositioning and
strengthening the ministry and its agencies to emphasise the desire to
contribute to national development.
At the event held in
Abuja, the Minister, therefore, inaugurated 12 governing boards,
councils of agencies, and institutes of the ministry.
He said the inauguration is remarkable in the history of the ministry due to the Global Competitiveness Report of the WEF.
Onu
hinted that the ministry had additional responsibility from the Federal
Government of being assigned the role of custodian of all the
fundamentals of innovation in Nigeria.
The minister assured
that a new rebranded ministry was emerging with the commitment of all
stakeholders within the STI ecosystem.
“The ministry is poised to engage the sub-national levels of governance including states and local governments.
“Our
presence at the state level will provide an opportunity to use STI in
the supply value-chain in agricultural production, business development
of micro, small, medium enterprises, and the academia in a constructive
strategic framework.
“We shall establish six technology and
innovation centers for global competitiveness in line with the
presidential Executive Order 05,’’ Onu said.
He said the new
appointees had an important role to play in achieving the noble goals
spelled out and expressed optimism that with all hands on deck, Nigeria
would become self-reliant.