Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has urged the Federal Government to ensure policies are effectively implemented for Nigeria’s development.
Obasanjo gave the advice during the eighth Retired Brig.-Gen. Ogbonna Agu Annual Lecture and Awards Ceremony, organised by the Nigerian Institution of Space Engineers (NISE) in Abuja on Saturday.
The theme of the lecture was “Nigeria’s 21 Years in Space: Achievements, Challenges and Prospects”.
The former president noted that many policies, particularly in the area of space technology, remained unimplemented and unexecuted.
“It is not enough to have good policies; Nigeria is not in short supply of good policies. In fact, go to our archives, it is a burial ground of unexecuted policies which leaves us where we should not be.
“What I am trying to say is that it is not enough to have a policy. It is not enough to even have a good statement like the one my sister had made.
“We are not short of policies in this country. If you go to the archives, our archives are full of policies. But there are many dead policies, unimplemented policies, and unexecuted policies.
“That is why we are where we should not have been. Those who have made progress have not done it on mere wishes. They took active steps.
‘‘The programme we had for the space programme when we established this centre if it was followed, by now Nigeria would have launched many satellites.
“We had everything put in place to launch different satellites. It was not just a programme but implementation started. I went to China and saw them.
‘‘The idea was after the first and second by Nigeria and Chinese engineers, the third would be launched by only Nigerian engineers, but that did not happen.
Dr Mathew Adepoju, the Director-General of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), said the Federal Government had approved four new satellites for the National Space and Satellite Programme.
“Among these satellites, we have three optical satellites and we have one synthetic and partial random satellite,” he said.
According to him, the government alone cannot drive the National Space Programme which is why the private sector involvement is highly needed.
“We shall open the space for active participation of the private sector in Nigeria’s space ecosystem,” Adepoju said.
In his remarks, Dr Umar Abdullahi, the National Chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Space Engineers, said there were setbacks related to satellite lifespan, funding limitations, policy inconsistencies and lack of manufacturing capacities.
“These challenges have tested our resilience and raised important questions about the sustainability of the space programme.
” Our journey in space has always been about more than technological success. It is about solving real-world problems, combating flooding, enhancing food security, monitoring environmental changes and improving national security.
“Satellites have given us tools to understand our world and address societal challenges,” he said.
The Director of Research, NASRDA, Prof. Rabiu Babatunde, said the way forward in addressing the challenges has to do with the replacement of space assets, new satellite constellation reviewed road map, strategic international partnership and commercialisation of Research Outputs.
Others included the development of industrial engineering and inventions complex, space technology and innovation fund as well as space economic paradigm shift to Public Private Partnership.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that former President Olusegun Obasanjo was among 10 people who were given awards for their immense contribution to space technology development.