The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, on Thursday, announced an award of N2,250,000,000 to top three performing agencies out of 17 under the purview of his ministry.
He made this announcement at a consultative meeting with the Director-Generals of the agencies in Abuja.
Successful agencies, according to him, are the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO), Lagos, who took the first position with N1 billion; while the second position went to the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) with N750 million and the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) clinched the third position with N500 million.
This, the minister said is to encourage them to achieve more and hence do their best in the promotion of the vision and mission of the ministry.
Dr Onu explained that a high powered competitiveness assessment committee was established that was co-chaired by credible nominees, from the Nigerian Academy of Science and the Nigerian Academy of Engineering.
The minister said other reputable members were drawn from the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Science Association of Nigeria, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, Nigeria Economy Summit Group, the National Universities Commission, among other bodies.
He said the committee was charged with the task of assessing each of the 17 agencies’ adherence to its mandate, saying this was examined within the context of the quality and relevance of its research and innovation efforts to national development, the number of patents granted as well as the number of its commercialized research findings, among others.
Dr Onu, who said the award would be given every two years, urged all the agencies to believe in themselves and the country at large.