Experts have urged the Federal Government to introduce more tech policies for sustainable growth of the economy.
They made the call in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Ibadan as the country attains 62 years of Independence.
Dr Olusola Ayoola, a Nigerian Robotic and Artificial Intelligence (AI) expert, said that the country had recorded great improvement in Science and Technology over the last 62 years.
He noted that the improvements were visible in the quality of radio transmission, the number of radio and Television channels currently in the country.
Ayoola, also the Founder, Robotic and Artificial Intelligence Nigeria, added that Nigeria has improved in the area of tech been deployed in banking, Computer Based Testing for examination, taxation, security and online registration of companies, among others.
“The development over the last 62 years are visible, our universities are now developing their curriculums to meet up with the requirements globally for tech education in the area of robotics, artificial intelligence and mechatronics.
“We can now see that universities in Nigeria are beginning to accept applications for mechatronics which in the past wasn’t there.
“What is needed now is for a deliberate attempt by government to support the practicality of these lessons,” he said.
Ayoola called on government to introduce policies that would ensure easy access to raw materials.
“The job of the Federal Government is to formulate policies that will create an enabling environment and easy access to raw materials that will be useful for our production instead of Nigeria becoming dumping ground of foreign products.
“As it is happening in other spaces. Government is insisting on a policy rather than just take away our resources, our human resources, or our raw materials, these companies should come and set up their factories in Nigeria and employ Nigerians.
“I think with more of these deliberate policies, the future is bright for tech in Nigeria, “Ayoola said.
Also, the Oyo State Chairman, Nigeria Computer Society(NCS), Dr Akin Oyeleye, said that government must pay more attention to technology development for Nigeria to achieve sustainable growth.
Oyeleye urged government to setup policies that would foster an enabling environment for speedy growth of startups in Nigeria.
“Government must to do more in developing policies that will harness technology potential of the youth for economic development growth and development, “he said.
Also speaking, Mr Mojeed Akingbade, a software expert, said that software as a key component of Information Communication Technology (ICT) remains a great tool for national and economic development.
Akingbade said that most of the software in use in the Nigeria since independence were imported, making the local software developers redundant.
“Nigeria at over 60 years of Independence is losing huge amount of money to foreign countries through licensing fees of foreign software,” he said.
He urged government to develop policies and strategies that would support local software technology.
