Opinions

Dr Halilu Shaba: Despite the Constraints Promoting Socio-economic Growth and Addressing Government Priorities through Nigerian Space Economy

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2 years ago

That the development of space science and technology particularly the launch of earth observation, communication and navigation satellites remain the core mandate of Nigeria’s premier space agency have never been in doubt but several years after the creation of the national space research and development agency, NASDRA, it was expected that it should have by now played a pivotal role in the development of expertise in the design, building and the launch of navigation satellites which has remained up till today a mirage even though it remains the core mandate of the agency till today.

Successive government and leadership of the agency have come and gone and the story remains the same. But since the appointment of the present director general of the agency, Dr. Halilu Ahmed Shaba, he has continued to implement a series of reforms and programs which has now continued to change the narratives of the Nigerian space industry for the better despite many constraints which not of the making of the present management. Prior to his appointment as the director general, the agency has not played it expected roles in making the Nigeria space dream a reality due to a number of factors and among which was financial incapacitation and non-prioritization of programmes that would have systematically led to the achievements of its core mandates but today things are changing with the present management of the agency led by Dr. Halilu Shaba.

Also prior to his appointment, budgetary resources available to the agency was scarcely used for the advancement of its core mandate but rather was used to service the salaries of staffs and overhead cost. But today resources available to National Space Research and Development Agency (NASDRA) are now used for the advancement of Nigeria’s space and technological advancements because after noticing that the Nigeria space economy can help the country out of its economic issues by promoting economic and addressing the government’s priority through capable leadership which have been the bane of the agency, President Mohammedu Buhari embarked on a leadership recruitment drive which led to the appointment of Dr. Halilu Shaba to reform NASDRA as an agency and change its narratives so that it would be an institution to lead to the achievement of Nigeria’s space and technological growth. The global downturn occasioned by the plumetation of oil prices in the international oil market and the short falls in Nigeria’s foreign reserve and the covid-19 epidemic which limited investments by the government in space research due to competing needs resulted to the budgetary allocation to the agency to become meager which slowed the pace of development expected from the agency.

The director general, Dr. Halilu Shaba implemented a series of programmes that is today improving the economic growth and stabilization of our nations economy through resorting to the space industry for our economic re-construction and recovery after the epidemic and the glut in the international oil market which was Nigeria’s chief source of foreign exchange earning.

Space related initiative and innovation such as the one’s implemented systematical and pragmatically by Dr. Halilu Shaba at NASDRA is today creating a lot of financial opportunities for the citizens of our country by aiding social development and economic self sufficiency. As a result Nigeria is now a very vivid and important player and a leading and respected light in the African space industry. Nigeria is recorded to be now one of the very few country’s in the African continent with the engineering capacity to completely design satellite communication technology and working to reach a level of producing rather than procuring many of our needed space product and services from foreign partners in the nearest future and this is achievable through the director general efforts in bringing the private sector into a partnership commitment with the government, first of its kind ever in the country.

The director general, Dr. Halilu Shaba is really modernizing the national space research and development council (NASDRA) and its core ecosystem of partners are delivering on an array of government priority relating to the nations development in three key areas of space development: environment and resource management, health, safety and security, and innovation and economic growth.

Today, there is a lot of positive momentum been created around the reshaping of the Nigerian space economy thanks to Dr. Halilu Shaba and his management team that today we see a significant growth trajectory in terms of project pipelines coming out of the space economy. The agency is now trying to drive the growth as strongly as possible that if we push forward on the same level of the next 5 years the local space ecosystem is poised to help the country unlock its economic growth potential and cement its footprint in the global space landscape. The director general is now also looking at ways of making the industry’s competitive sectors will contribute to the nation’s higher GDP growth and the space sector as a main target. Recently, a space economic report conducted by the global organization on space watch dog shows there today a higher return on space economy in the African continent considering the reforms of the new sheriff at NASDRA, Dr. Halilu Shaba and you could imagine how much good it has brought into the economy.

For avoidance of doubt prior to his appointment the government’s priority and pledge that the country would have an astronaut in space on or before 2030, a mission that seems unachieveable is today been acclaimed by all to be achievable due to the new reforms of the director general that is exuding confidence of major players in the Nigeria space sector. The usage of more than sixty percent of the yearly budget for NASDRA and its affiliate agencies for salaries with little or nothing left for capital project is now a thing of the past. Figures from the budget office shows that a special intervention in 2021 by president Mohammadu Buhari which increased NASDRA budget by 450% in one year because of the sustained and re-established confidence in the NASDRA’S management if sustained by the present administration will make NASDRA’S mandate achieveable during the reign of Dr. Halilu Halilu Shaba going forward.

Musa Wada

Abuja

Note: This article is (without any alteration to its original form) completely an opinion of the writer and does not convey or represent the thoughts of, or a shared belief with NIGERIAN TRIBUNE.

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