Nigeria’s Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, has asserted that a Nigerian astronaut will be in space by 2030.
Making the assertion when the management team of the Defence Space Agency, led by its Director-General, Air Vice Marshal Victor Udoh, called on him here Thursday, he said the Federal Government was making arrangements to ensure that this was achieved.
“The space programme is very important for a country like Nigeria. The ministry will work very hard in the years ahead to strengthen all the structures of the agencies that will help us to ensure that the nation plays a role in space,” he said.
He added that the ministry would intensify efforts to ensure that all the arrangements needed were provided. According to him, space “is a major asset which nations like Nigeria must also be involved in for the purposes of protecting national interests.”
Onu assured the team that the ministry would support and work with the agency in the best interest of the nation.
Udoh said the agency would like to collaborate with the Ministry in order to be more efficient and effective. Working with the Ministry would fast-track accomplishment of the agency’s stated objectives, he added.
(NAN)
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