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Minister flays National Assembly over importation of luxury vehicles

By Abdulganiu Alabi, Kaduna
13 October 2017   |   3:28 am
The Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, has accused the National Assembly of acting at cross-purposes with the ban on importation of luxury vehicles into the country.

Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu

The Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, has accused the National Assembly of acting at cross-purposes with the ban on importation of luxury vehicles into the country.

During an international conference on research and innovation in Kaduna, minister who was representated by the Director General, National Center for Technology Management, Professor Okechuwku Okuoma said the federal lawmakers were still neck deep in importation of exotic cars.

His words: “So there is a circular by government to parastatals and agencies that they should not buy the products of
any company that is not manufacturing or assembling any vehicle in the country, but what we are seeing today is that the people at the National Assembly are importing vehicles into the country.”

He went on: “If you make a policy and you are not working on it, that is what I called policy paralysis. This is a situation of you having a policy and yet not implementing it.”

The Chairman, Main Organising Committee of the event, Dr. Okopi Momoh, blamed policy paralysis on lack of a converging point where individual organisation and agency meet to discuss on government’s action regarding innovation and import policies.

He noted: “ With the formation of this consortium of 15 technical partner organisations, I know by next year’s conference, relevant organisations will join. We think a platform like this will change the mindset of government, because we would continue to advocate for government to put in place policy instruments based on submission made.”

The Director General, Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO), Professor Gloria Elemo, said: “ It is unprecedented in the history of organising this kind of conference. It is multi-collaboration, involving eight stakeholders.” She said the theme of the event, Diversification of Nigerian Economy Through Research and Innovation, was apt.

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