The House of Representatives has expressed willingness to increase national budgetary allocation to the Science and Technology sector.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology, Beni Lar (PDP, Plateau), decried the present underfunding of the sector in the national budget, noting that committing to fund research in the sector is important for transforming the economy.
Beni Lar spoke on Monday when she led members of the committee on an oversight to the Ministry of Science and Technology in Abuja.
The lawmaker said it was disheartening that only 0.2 per cent of the nation’s budget was allocated to the ministry.
She said though the ministry has several agencies that are meant to push Nigeria’s technological advancement in manufacturing, space technology, medicine, entrepreneurship, agriculture and security, little attention was being paid to the ministry to carry out its mandate.
Lar noted that in developed countries, one of the key reasons for their technological advancement is the huge investment in funding science, technology and innovation strategic industries to improve the socioeconomic growth of their countries.
