President Buhari made this call in his address while declaring open the first edition of the African Forum for Research and Innovation in Abuja yesterday.
Stressing that the theme “Science, Technology and Innovation for a more competitive ECOWAS,” was apt, Buhari said the West African region stands to gain a lot through the utilisation of STI to address the various diseases and catastrophes ravaging the region. Represented by his chief of staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, President Buhari noted that STI is recognised as the driver of Nigeria’s National Development Plan , adding that the utilisation and promotion of innovative applications with other socio- economic development indicators will lead to rapid industrialisation of the region.
He said “Nigeria has taken steps to ensure that its youthful population is given the appropriate environment to achieve their dreams in innovation by passing legislation that governs and provides level -playing field via the Nigerian Start-up bill, which has been passed by our National Assembly and I look forward to assenting to the landmark piece of legislation as a critical building block for energising our innovation landscape.