Minister of state science and technology, Henry Ikechukwu Ikoh has said the new leadership of the ministry planned to reposition science and technology to drive Nigeria’s technological growth and tackle the burden of unemployment in the next seven months.
Ikoh said science and technology is all about wealth, and job creation, adding that it is all about innovation and creativity.
Speaking during a reception with friends and associates yesterday in Abuja, he noted that the youths will be gainfully employed via its innovation.
“Well before now, I was a commissioner for industry, science and technology in my state. Science and technology are all about wealth and job creation. It’s all about innovation. It’s all about creativity.
“President Muhammadu Buhari deems it necessary to appoint some of us. What we have is to deliver and I can assure you, within seven months, we’re going to deliver in terms of making sure that our youth are gainfully employed.”
He said his target is to explore the science and technology sector alongside relevant stakeholders in the sector.
“We will achieve this via training the trainer. We’re bringing scale to every graduate, every student, everybody must be trained in a trade.
“In the past, we used to have handwork from primary school. But nowadays there is no such thing anywhere.
“People will continue to graduate, and not add value. This must change. We are going back to the grassroots.
“We’re going to do basic, and we will also ensure that corps members before rounding up their National Youth Service Corps programme must have a trade,” he added.
