Economy: Nigeria inaugurates Committee to cut food, energy import bills by 50 percent

*Vice-President (Senator) Kashim Shettima inaugurates the Inter-ministerial committee, in Abuja, with the mandate to coordinate action in five strategic sectors to build Nigeria into an innovation-driven, trillion-Dollar economy within a decade

Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect

In line with the current administration’s efforts at pooling both intellectual and financial capital to transform Nigeria, the Federal Government has inaugurated an Inter-ministerial Committee on Research and Innovation.

ConsumerConnect reports Vice-President (Senator) Kashim Shettima, who inaugurated the committee in the State House, Abuja, FCT, disclosed the mission of the Committee is to ensure food and energy security, as well as curtail the country’s dependence on imports.

Shettima charged the Committee members to work towards cutting down Nigeria’s import bills by 50 percent.

The Vice-President also affirmed that the Committee is part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration’s efforts at pooling the intellectual and financial capital to “create the cockpit from which Nigeria’s innovation economy will be piloted.”

The mission is to build the West African country into a trillion-Dollar economy within 10 years.

Shettima asserted: “We are here to breathe life not into this Committee, but into a bold mission: to build Nigeria into an innovation-driven, trillion-dollar economy within a decade.

“The future we desire is not something we inherit. It is something we build.”

Committee’s terms of reference, by VP Shettima

Highlighting the Committee’s terms of reference, Nigerian Vice-President Shettima said the committee would coordinate action in five strategic sectors of the economy to transform society.

He listed the components sectoral components of the Committee to include Agriculture and Climate Resilience, where research innovation must feed our people and protect our planet; and Manufacturing Excellence, where we break our dependency on imports and build proudly Nigerian supply chains.

According to him, others are Healthcare Innovation, where we shift from importing medicines to exporting medical breakthroughs; Natural Resource Optimisation, where we stop selling raw materials, and start exporting ingenuity; and Energy Security, where we power our economy and secure our future.”

Membership of the Inter-ministerial Committee

Emphasising the mission of the Committee, Vice-President Shettima explained that a fundamental target for setting up the committee is to reduce Nigeria’s food import bills by 50 percent.

He further noted that “in each of these areas, we will pursue missions, not just metrics.

“We will not be content with data for dashboards—we want deliverables that change lives.”

The Vice-President stated: “What will it take to reduce our food import bill by 50%? How do we triple local pharmaceutical production? Let us align policy, research, and investment to answer these questions and achieve measurable, meaningful outcomes.”

Shettima explained disclosed the Committee is a prelude to a larger Presidential Plenary on Innovation approved by President Tinubu.

The high-level plenary, which will be held annually, will be presided over by the President himself, he said.

The Vice-President said: “This Committee is only the beginning. His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has approved a Presidential Plenary on Innovation—an annual high-level forum that will bring together academia, research institutes, industry, civil society, and the Nigerian people to align our national innovation priorities.

“This plenary will be addressed by Mr. President himself, because innovation is a presidential area of priority.

“It is central to his vision for a new Nigeria.”

Earlier, in his address at the event, Uche Nnaji, Honourable Minister for Innovation, Science, and Technology, applauded the Vice-President’s leadership, and commitment of the relevant government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

Nigeria can save scarce resources, move faster in right direction: Minister

Nnaji acknowledged that collaboration is critical in the administration’s renewed vigour to prioritise research and innovation to re-engineer the Nigerian economy.

The Minister also said the Inter-ministerial Committee would help the country to save scarce resources and move faster in the right direction, by harmonising efforts, human and material resources for the purpose of enhancing research and innovation across critical sectors of the economy.

He averred: “The keyword here is collaboration. We have been spending a lot of money on our various ministries, duplicating our functions.

“I believe that with this collaboration and this committee here, we will save a lot of money for the government and reduce duplication.”

In attendance also at the inauguration, in Abuja, were the Ministers for Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari; Communications, Innovations and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani; Alhaji Balarabe Lawal; Alhaji Idi Mukhtar, and representatives of the Ministers of Education, Budget and Economic Planning, and Foreign Affairs, among other members of the Committee.

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