• Insists
bio-scientists are key to economic recovery
A university
teacher, Prof. Joseph Abayomi Olagunju yesterday disclosed that 61
percent of
Nigerians still live below one dollar per day.
He spoke at
the maiden Bioscience Annual Conference, organised by the College of
Biosciences of the Federal University of Agriculture (FUNAAB), Abeokuta, the
Ogun State capital.
Olagunju,
who is the Dean of the Post Graduate School at the Lagos State University,
lamented the high rate of poverty in Nigeria and Africa.
According to
him, the reason the country’s poverty level is high is that some social
variables that would have fostered its rapid development and economic growth
were omitted during its development process.
He cited the
variables to include, poverty reduction, inequality, unemployment, increasing
population, education, health, housing and provision of essential social
amenities.
He
explained: “In this age and time when economies are increasingly based on
knowledge, technology and information, biosciences and biotechnology are the
major drivers.
He said
bioscience applications in the country are still at the infancy stage, unlike
in the developed countries
The Acting
Vice-Chancellor of FUNAAB, Prof. Ololade Enikhuomehin said the conference
provided a unique platform for research scientists and biosciences experts to
share information.
He expressed
the hope that the participants at the three-day conference would come up with
ideas that would shape research and control policies in the sector.
Source: Guardian
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