MINISTER of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, on Wednesday, expressed his displeasure at the unemployment rate in the country, with a pledge that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari was committed at ensuring that the teeming unemployed youths in Nigeria were gainfully employed.
He said Nigerians have to be brought together through research institutions, universities, as well as government and the organised private sectors to find lasting solutions to the many infrastructural problems bedevilling the roads and housing sector in Nigeria.
Dr Onu made this known during the opening ceremony of a 3-day Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI), International Conference 2017 in Abuja.
The minister further stated that NBRRI’s Artisan center was an indigenous centre with the capacity built with appropriate certification to boost the career competencies of the teeming youth’s population, with a view to serving not only the nation`s needs but also those of other nationalities.
According to him, the aim of the conference is to concentrate its efforts on how research and innovation must become demand driven and target the important needs of the nation.
He said from the advent of his tenure in office as the minister, NBRRI has been able to meet with directives and mandate given to it to facilitate research institutes with a view to creating new jobs for the Nigerian youths.
Dr Onu then recalled the establishment and commissioning of Artisans Academy in Otta and a Learning Guides Construction site in Lagos for Artisans, which would serve as a direct role towards mitigating the challenges of capital flight.
In his welcome address, the Director–General/Chief Executive Officer of NIBRRI, Professor Danladi Matawal, said the major aim of the conference was to boost materials and technology needs and to highlight some of the global construction technology trends and learn more about how they have impact on the industry, particularly in Nigeria.
and then