The strategic development of government strategies, human society, interaction with public sectors and improvement of competitive research are among policies to be employed by African countries to achieve giant stride in science and technology.
UNESCO expert on University-Industry-Science Partnership (UNISPAR), Prof. Itsuo Ohnaka of the Department of Mechanical Engineering Osaka University, Japan disclosed this at a public lecture recently at the University of Lagos, Lagos, while delivering a keynote address on "Science and Technology Strategies with Special Reference to University/ Industry Partnership."
Ohnaka stressed that aside African countries, Nigerian society and economy depend largely on sustenance of science and technology to develop. The lecture was organised by the University of Lagos, UNESCO and Pan-African University.
Drawing examples from Japan, an island in Asian countries, Ohnaka, who is also member of the International Advisory Board for Nigeria Science and Technology Reform, said Japan through the enactment of basic science laws in 1995 was able to set-up four priority areas which formed the fulcrum of its technology development.
These, he said include life science, information technology, environment, Nano-technolgy and materials, adding that this contributed immensely to the feats been witnessed in terms of its technology achievement.
For Africa to achieve sustainable development, he advised that its universities should deviate a little bit from traditional method of education-knowledge transfer and place more emphasis on new education which revolves around problems finding setting- solving ability, communication ability, self-learning ability, ethics and teamwork ability.
Ohanaka, who said he sees "sun rising again in Africa", remarked that there was need for paradigm shift in its education system, continuous efforts in innovation, experiential learning, mobility of people; fusion of engineering, social sciences among others. Based on the foregoing, he said African universities need to make
sweeping changes in the areas to benefit from aid offered by G8. Secretary-General of the Nigerian National Commission for UNESCO, Mrs. Mariam Katagum, in her goodwill message described the lecture as worthwhile, saying the application of science and technology is an agent of industrial, economic and social development.
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