The National Metallurgical Development Centre, NMDC, has advised the Federal Government to commit three percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, toward supporting research and development in the country.
The agency also said the government needs to invest more in research, particularly in the area of science and technology.
The advice was given by the Director General of NMDC, Prof Linus Asuquo, when Prof. Tanko Ishaya, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Jos visited him on Wednesday, in Jos the Plateau State Capital.
Prof Asuquo said, ”Research is capital intensive, modern equipment and facilities are equally expensive; so for this country to grow, a lot of funding is needed for research and development.
”If we really want to develop this country, governmthe ent must invest at least three per cent of our GDP to support research and development.
”This is the way to go if we really want to make significant progress in our country especially, in the area of steel development,” he said.
He also identified poor funding as one of the major challenges confronting the centre.
”The centre is facing funding challenges because budgetary allocation is grossly inadequate to fund all our needs
”As we speak some of our plants and facilities are moribund due to inadequate funding to make them functional, ” he decried.
Asuquo, however, said that the centre had recorded significant improvement in the last few years, adding that his administration would explore means of making the centre more functional.
He explained that the centre had trained 106 students of the university in the last five years and promised to train more students from the institution.
Earlier, Prof Ishaya said the visit would open up areas of collaboration toward enhancing research and development in the country.
He said all developed countries rely on quality research, adding that the collaboration between the university and the centre was timely.
The Vice-Chancellor explained that the collaboration creates the desired impact locally and internationally, insisting that the centre is well equipped to carry out research that would promote steel development in the nation.