RMRDC CALLS FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE STATES                                                                                                

The Raw materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) has tasked state governments on the need to establish a Ministry of Science and Technology in their respective states to take full advantage of Science and Technology as a catalyst for socio- economic development in the nation.  The Chairperson of the RMRDC Governing Board, Chief (Mrs.) Pauline Tallen OFR, made this call in Lagos recently, when she visited the Executive Governor of Lagos state, Amb. Bola Tinubu, in his office, during the RMRDC Board’s tour of council’s projects and Liaison Offices in the South- West geo- political zone.

She noted that a nation with abundant mineral and agricultural resources had no cause to be an importer nation if it could harness all available structures for the development of its resources, even as she stated that President Olusegun Obasanjo had appointed the RMRDC Board to midwife the implementation of government reform agenda for moving the nation forward technologically.

The RMRDC Director General, Eng. (Prof.) Azikiwe Peter Onwualu, in his own comment, was unequivocal in his preference for small cottage level projects for possible funding by the council over the large scale ones which had proven unwieldy in the past.  He said the council was to establish micro projects and small- scale projects through out the federation to provide jobs for the unemployed in Nigeria. 

The DG also expressed the need to re- focus the Council’s attention on industry- specific projects that would address the raw material needs of manufacturing industries in Nigeria.  He said the strategic plan of the Council was to look into these issues.  He also said that machineries had been put in place to involve the liaison offices staff in the management of some of the projects, which had led to the scrapping of zonal liaison offices so that state offices would become more involved in the projects in their respective states.

He therefore called on the staff in the liaison offices visited to initiate projects for implementation by the Council.

Other areas visited by the team included the palace of the Oba of Lagos, His Royal Highness Oba Rilwan Akiolu I, the palace of the Alake of Egbaland, Government House Abeokuta, where they briefed the Executive Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olugbenga Daniel on state of Council’s projects in the state.  The council is also promoting the Phosphate plant, a joint project between it and the Ogun state government, which it promised to complete so as to justify the support it has enjoyed from Gov. Olugbenga Daniel’s government. The Council also promised to establish a brown sugar processing plant in the state in due course.

At the Organo mineral plant in Oyo state, it was the decision of the team that the fertilizers produced should be distributed to farmers in the state rather than being allowed to lie waste in the factory site.

The team later proceeded to the palace of Olubadan of Ibadan, Oyo state, and later to the Government House of Oyo state for a courtesy call on the Executive Governor, Otunba Alao Akala. The team also paid a courtesy call on the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan to discuss issues relating to the Organo- mineral fertilizer project which is jointly promoted by the Council and the university.

                                                                                                                            Chucks Ngaha