The summit said due to its importance in the national economic development, science and technology should also be included in order to contribute its quota.

The communiqué issued at the end of a week long NASTECH activities organized by the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology argued that nuclear technology if given priority would put a stop to the incessant power supply and generation problem and also supplement the existing conventional power generation in the country.

The need to build more power generation from nuclear plants would meet the short fall in electricity supply and strengthen the current fragile state of the distribution network, the communique emphasized.

The conference, which drew participants from both government and private sectors stressed the need for the government to sustain the tempo on the achievements recorded in the science and technology sector for sustainable economic development adding that government should also institute a mechanism that would ensure sustained government policy implementation.

The participants also called for the establishment of an agency responsible for commercialization of research and development results, inventions and innovations, noting that this would facilitate the much needed robust business relationship between the researchers and the entrepreneurs in the country.

While the participants advised NASRDA to embark on an extensive advocacy programme to educate the public on space programme and benefit of the satellite technology, they also agreed that conscious efforts be made by the agency to introduce basic space technology into basic school curriculum.

As part of efforts to accord science and technology a prime position in the country, the participants called on the government to include the minister of science and technology on the Board of National Planning Commission and as a member of the Economic Team of the Federal Government.

It would be recalled that the national science and technology (NASTECH) week is a statutory mandate of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology approved by the Council of Ministers in 1987. The event is observed annually in the third week of October to showcase research and development results, products, inventors and innovations in the science and technology sector.