FG: IDB to Help Nigeria in Commercialisation of Research Findings

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The federal government has said that the Islamic Development Bank (IDB)‎ in Saudi Arabia has agreed to help Nigeria in the commercialisation of research findings.

The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, disclosed this while addressing ‎a world press conference in Abuja, on Monday where he also lamented that Nigeria has a lot of technology gaps.

He said the world over, countries that are doing very well pay attention to science and technology, but noted that while Nigeria deserves the best, the only way to get the best is when the country starts paying crucial attention to science and technology.

According to him, “We are very happy that President Muhammadu Buhari is convinced on this and he’s giving us the necessary support to make sure that this is achieved. I visited three countries, the first country I visited was Saudi Arabia, we went to Saudi Arabia at the invitation of the president of Islamic Development Bank (IDB).”

Onu stressed: “We entered into detailed discussions with them. They were very interested by the work we are doing here, one, the area of commercialisation of research findings. Even though we are not investing much as the nation on research and innovation, but our research institutes and agencies had been working hard and many of them have come up with research findings, some are patented and many of these have gotten to a level where they should be commercialised.‎”

Details later…