Hello and welcome to the blog!
In
a previous post, I had written about the Nigerian space program and I am quite
impressed by the response this post has gotten and the questions that came up
thereafter. So, thank you all very much for reading and for sharing your
thoughts.
On
today’s post, I would like to give an update about the Nigerian space sector
and also address some of the questions I got from the post of the 12th
of May 2020, most of which are criticisms about the inefficiency of the Nigerian
space programs and its expenditures which have not yielded any benefits. The following paragraphs should permit the reader to come to
their own conclusion as to whether Nigeria needs to continue to advance its
space capabilities.
Before
going into the questions, I will like to share my thoughts on what I think is
most pertinent on the subject matter in a quote. “While Nigeria has a lot to offer Nigerians, Africans
and the world in general, it must first overcome its attitude towards change
and development and adopt a winning mentality. For this, it must seek to
construct a balanced economic system which preserves its great minds and ends the
challenges of brain drain with a backdrop to move towards brain gain.”
The
recently inaugurated leadership of the National Space Research and Development
Agency to
consolidate the agency’s operations as well as drive the objectives for
establishing the agency. The new acting
Director-General who was appointed in May has
affirmed his commitment to reviewing the National Space Policy and Strategy and
to ensure that the direction of the Nigerian space program is refocused towards its
initial objective.
In
an interview with Space in Africa, the Acting Director-General said that
one of his first duties would be to set up necessary committees with the
approval of the agency’s board and legislative council. The new leadership will
revise the space document as a form of an evaluation process that will
determine the achievements and failings of the policy and how it tallies with
current needs and events.
The major thrust
of the new policy would be to vigorously pursue the attainment of space
capabilities as an essential tool for the socio-economic development of the
nation and the advancement of the quality of life for Nigerians. The tripartite
policy would focus on building a Nigerian satellite, launching the satellite in
Nigeria, and the pursuit of indigenous creation of rockery vehicle that Nigeria
will use for the launch of the spacecraft. To this end, in order to achieve
this goal, Nigeria must not only propose these changes, it must also embrace the
process, embrace its past mistake and learn from them, involve all relevant
stakeholders and actually change its approach to achieve these goals which has
been set out so that a repetition of the inability to achieve most of the goals
on the 25-year strategic map would not be repeated. In this wise, the next
section of the work details the conversation between stakeholders in the
Nigerian space sector in order to initiate a discussion towards eliminating the
challenges faced in this sector.
Following
weeks after this inauguration, I
was lucky to have spoken to three brilliant minds who hold prominent positions
in the Nigerian Space programs and have worked on both domestic and
international planes, seen various space dealings, drawing conclusions as to the
right approach to promote efficiency and profitability and in the end, we
agreed that as Nigeria looks to the future, it must effectively utilize
its natural endowments to earn its badge of honor as a space capable country,
with an initial focus on the downstream impact of the technology. Thus, it
would need to retool its own science and technology (S&T) capabilities and utilize
these assets to enhance its economic development and improve the wellbeing of
its people.
As I lay conclusions to the preceding paragraphs, I must also suggest further reading on “Nigeria’s space journey- understanding its pasts and reshaping its future” by Dr Adigun Ade Abiodun which has shone the light on the successes and missteps of the Nigerian space programs with a subtle reprimand of those “Who hold the reins of power and, by sheer neglect allowed a promising path bursting with potential to fall into ruin.”
With the points shared,
do you still hold the view that Nigeria needs to diversify its funding
apportioned to the Nigerian space agency into attaining other sustainable
development goals at this time or its approach to further its space
capabilities should prevail?
Thank
you for taking out time to read and share this post. Should you have any
questions, comments or suggestions, do not hesitate to use the comment box.
Please follow my discussions on my LinkedIn account at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayomide-a-jide-omole-062633112
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