Ban on Importation'll Provoke Alternatives - Obasanjo
From Julcit Onigbogi in Abuja
President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that Federal Government's ban on some items is intended to "provoke internal sourcing and increased research into import alternatives."
Obasanjo made the declaration at the opening of the 7th Techno- Expo organised by the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC).
The President said the thrust of government policy in this regard is to promote industrial growth through the stimulation of appropriate economic activities to raise the productivity of the citizenry.
He noted that Research and Development (R & D) could effectively be applied to address critical national problems.
"Government's ban on importation of fruit juice and fruit products, poultry and poultry products was meant to increase R&D; activities in these areas in a bid to provide local alternatives and develop indigenous technology for domestic industrial production," he said.
The trends, which have given birth to economic programmes like NEPAD, AGOA, and globalisation also present a teething challenge for the improvement in the output of our indigenous R&D;, the President added.
"As the forces of globalisation continually inhibit effective technology transfer from the developed countries, our local industries and agricultural activities rely heavily on our indigenous R&D; for the production of innovative high quality products, high grade of value-added raw materials and design of environmentally friendly operations which can compete favorably by global standards," he said.
Minister for Science and Technology, Prof. Turner Isoun noted that 'Techno-expo' 2004 is designed to refocus the attention of Nigerians on how to use our indigenous R&D; efforts to provide adequate technical support towards actualising the benefit of government's policy on limiting the importation of certain goods, which can be produced locally.
On his part, Senator Iya Abubakar, Senate Committee Chairman on Science and Technology expressed delight at the expo restating that the widening gap in economic growth between the developed and developing countries is closely linked to the increasing imbalance in scientific and technological capabilities.
"It is also clear that economic and fiscal policies alone cannot bail this country out of the present doldrums, the missing link lies in the application of science and technology to national development," he said.
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