The federal government has revealed that its new development drive anchored on Economic Recovery and Growth Programme (ERGP) will leverage Science, Technology, innovation to build knowledge based economy.
Explaining the new idea, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, at the opening ceremony of the Nigeria Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER) strategy retreat, at the Training and Conference Centre, Ogere, Ogun State, said ERGP will propel the country to the path of strong, diversified, inclusive and sustained growth. According to him, “Nigeria will rely most on latest technology to fire on multiple engines of agriculture, manufacturing, solid minerals, services and others, not just a single engine of crude oil production.
Continuing, Udoma averred that “As you know, no nation can truly attain great heights without well-grounded research findings that can guide policy makers in their decision making. The basis of any knowledge society is constant innovation and new discoveries, which can only come through sound research. There is close connection between utilisation of research outcomes and the pace of a nation’s socio-economic development”.
He said “NISER was set up to be the premier think tank economic research institute for Nigeria. And NISER is expected to consistently generate credible knowledge through quality research, conduct specialised training and consultancy services, while interacting with relevant segments of the society in the task of national development. NISER therefore clearly has an important role to play in the actualisation of the ERGP”.
To meet up the delivery speed, Udoma noted that government is in support of measures currently being put in place by NISER Director-General, Dr. Folarin Gbadebo-Smith, towards repositioning the research institute for efficiency.
