Federal Government has promised to move the nation’s economy from consumption to production before the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari ends next year.
It also said that efforts towards improving Nigeria’s global competitiveness status through the use of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) to attract foreign exchange earnings were beginning to yield results.
Minister of State for Science, Technology, and Innovation, Chief Henry Ikoh, disclosed this while declaring open National Dialogue on the Establishment and Implementation of Technology and Innovation Centres for Global Competitiveness and Productivity, in Enugu, yesterday.
He said that with STI, it is not late to move the nation from consumption to a productive economy.
The minister added that the economic transformation of the country should be a measure of readiness to move the nation to greater heights.
He stressed that the administration of President Buhari had “shown improved governmental responses to change, and collaboration between government, investors and firms, thereby, enhancing social safety net and sound financial institutional framework tailored towards economic transformation of the country.”
Ikoh noted that the theme for the National Dialogue, ‘Achieving Nigeria’s Competitiveness and Improved Foreign Exchange Earnings through Science, Technology and Innovation,’ was apt and will support the monetary, fiscal, as well as trade policies of government for better and improved economy.
According to him, the theme of the event was basically on Presidential Order 005, which prohibits Nigerians from importing what they can produce.
Ikechukwu said: “We want to begin revised engineering, using Provider Digital Access (PRODA), which has been in the Southeast for some time now.
“We must produce machineries, which we can use to produce what we consume. Nigeria has capacity to do that.
“Our mandate, within this short time, is to produce what we can use and export the rest. That is the way to create wealth and guarantee that dollar, which is killing naira everyday, comes back to normal.”
“You will agree that if we are able to produce what we eat and export the rest, it will create jobs. It’s going to close the gap between the rich and poor; employment will be generated and people will be moved from poverty to prosperity.”
Source: Guardian.ng
