By Paul Efiong
The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu has called on African countries to prepare for the looming population bulge by planning ahead for the education, health and the housing of their people.
Dr. Onu made the call when the Acting Director-General of Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Dr. Bakut Bakut and the Executive Director, African Institute of South Africa (AISA), Prof. Cheryl Hendricks paid a courtesy call on him on Tuesday 2nd April, 2019 in Abuja.
He said that South Africa and Nigeria have important roles to play in the development of the world and urged the two countries to collaborate to make the continent a better place.
Dr. Onu further said that the application of natural science to convert natural resources to products and services requires the knowledge of the Social Science and the management skills of the Humanities.
Dr. Onu also disclosed that The Federal Ministry of Science and Technology is taking the lead in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (2017-2030) to make Nigeria a knowledge-based society.
In his opening remakes, the Acting Director-General of Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution, Dr. Bakut Bakut said that most conflicts in Africa are not only caused by social issues, but arise as a result of environmental factors, He therefore sought the assistance of the Ministry in availing the institute with her knowledge and expertise to help the institute in peace and conflict resolution.
The Executive Director of the African Institute of South Africa (AISA), Prof. Cheryl Hendricks said that the center is into multidiscipline and transdisciplinary research across the continent in the area of Natural and social science to solve most of the development challenges on the continent.
