PRESS STATEMENT
Northern Governors Forum Agree to Embrace Science and Technology innovations to Develop the North.
As a way out of current waves of youths unemployment and criminal acts of banditry, kidnapping and youth restiveness prevalent in Northern parts of the country, the Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum (NGF),Mr.Simon Bako Lalong has disclosed that the governors from that part of the country have decided to deploy the instruments of Science and technology innovations to tackle unemployment in the region.
Governor Lalong said during the last meeting of the Forum held in Kaduna, the State Governors have decided to build a new industrialized northern Nigeria in order to address poverty and idleness which are the major causes of the security challenges facing the Northern part of the country.
He said therefore the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure(NASENI) had been designated as the technical partner to the northern Governors in this process.
Governor Lalong disclosed this today in Jos, Plateau State Government House when the Executive Vice Chairman of NASENI, Professor Mohammed Sani Haruna and the agency’s management team paid a courtesy call to the Governor.
Governor Lalong said ”all the northern Governors have discovered that poverty, youths unemployment, lack of equal socio-economic opportunities for the youths are the root causes of the high rate of crimes in the North leading to kidnapping for ransom taking, banditry and unabated criminalities amongst young people.
The northern Governors, he said, had decided to attend to the above challenges using the instruments of science and technology innovations because they had found out that it has become imperative to create jobs for the youths and restore their hope for the future on a sustainable basis and it is only science and technology innovations that could guarantee that for us “
As a first step, all the governors have resolved to work with NASENI and all science and technology establishments in the country as avenues to make science and technology resources to JumpStart the economic development of the Northern part of the country.
“All States of the north are embracing the human capital development strategy and knowledge based economic infrastructure together to develop the northern parts of the country and there is no going back on this ” He said.
Governor Simon Lalong while welcoming the NASENI boss and his team to the state said imaginativeness and industrial spirit are the true ingredients of industrial development or to successfully modernise societies.
During his remarks, further, the Plateau State Governor requested NASENI to establish two(2) institutes simultaneously in the State-Agriculture Machinery and Equipment Development Institutes(AMEDI) and the Hydro Machinery Equipment Development Institute (HMEDI).The Governor said that the establishment of the two institutes were suitable for the State because of the rich natural resources of Plateau in hydro and Agriculture, flora and fauna.
The Executive Vice Chairman of NASENI said that “to me, coming back to support the development of Plateau State is a return to the root where I began the development of engineering career years back”
He pledged that NASENI would assist Plateau State government to revive all technical and vocational skills acquisition centres across the state as first step. Then, the Agency would infuse modern techniques in the manpower sector of the State including resuscitation of computer based skills acquisition capacities leading to training on technology innovations skills in the course of development will be introduced into manpower resources of the State.
SIGNED:
Olusegun Ayeoyenikan
Deputy Director, Information
NASENI.