Onu: Nigeria Cannot Continue to Import Toothpicks, Others

The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, yesterday said Nigeria cannot continue to export its natural forest resources abroad only for it to be imported into the country as toothpicks.
He said the country cannot be a consumer nation that depends on other nations even for her basic needs.
He said it was baffling to note that a greatly endowed nation like Nigeria would export crude oil and import refined oil, export wood and import toothpicks.
The disclosure was contained a statement signed by his Chief Press Officer, Mr. Taye Akinyemi, when Onu, met Directors General (DGs) of agencies and parastatals under the ministry in his office in Abuja.




The minister enjoined the Directors General to become agents of change that the present administration has promised Nigerians and the change that Nigeria deserves in all its ramifications.
According to him, the various agencies were established by government in its wisdom because of the conviction that every challenge of the nation’s existence can only be tackled and resolved through endeavours resulting from the various innovations and research from the Agencies.
For this reason, he tasked them to develop team spirit, relate to each other, pass on research findings and innovations to sister agencies relevant to the findings/innovations and then revert to new areas pertinent to their primary mandate.

In doing this, Onu emphasised the need for patenting of their products, secure inventions and not to lose sight of the yam pounder invention in Nigeria which was eventually taken out by another country, mass produced with no benefit going to the inventor and Nigeria as a nation.
He urged them to keep the ministry abreast of their achievements so that members of the public can become adequately informed not only about the contributions and achievements of the ministry, but also its relevance in making the country become a great nation as “no nation can attain greatness without science and technology.”

The Directors General in their various contributions, assured the minister of their preparedness to meet and tackle the challenges facing the nation in line with their mandates, energise the abundant and credible human resources at their disposal for national development.
According to the statement, they also promised that the mantra of change promised Nigerians by the administration would first and foremost be realised from the science and technology sector so that the new order of doing things in line with the rule of law would be evident in the sector for all Nigerians and the international community to see.
This Day.