President Muhammadu Buhari has assured that the Federal Government would henceforth allocate 0.5 percent of the Nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to research and development in order to fast-track meaningful development in Nigeria.
Buhari, represented by his Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, revealed this in Abuja at the opening ceremony of the 2023 Technology and Science Expo.
Buhari said he had communicated with the National Economic Council (NEC) to come up with modalities in achieving this objective.
According to him, “We want to reiterate that having come to terms with the challenges of this critical sector of the economy, we will henceforth dedicate 0.5% of our GDP to R&D in order to fast track meaningful development.
“I would like to inform you that we have made an effort in actualising this through our communication to the National Economic Council to come up with modalities in achieving this noble intention of the government.”
The President, who underscored the indispensability of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) to the socio-economic development of the country, said, no nation of the world has been developed devoid of the ultilisation of science, technology and innovation.
He enumerated some initiatives introduced by his administration to fast-track the development of STI, saying, “We demonstrated our love and desire to diversify our economy by the application of the STI, through improving the budgetary allocation of the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, whose budget before was so meagre that it could not have achieved any meaningful economic development.”
