Nigeria, Cuba Partner On Science And Technology

Nigeria has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Republic of Cuba to further enhance collaboration in the field of Innovation, Science and Technology between the two countries.

The signing ceremony which took place on Saturday on the sidelines of the G77+China Summit at Hotel Palco La Habana, is the high point of Nigeria’s participation at the summit.

Nigeria’s Minister of Innovation, Science & Technology, Uche Nnaji signed on behalf of the Nigerian Government.

After the signing of the MoU, the Minister praised President Bola Tinubu for his visionary leadership which resulted in the signing of the agreement.

He assured that Nigeria would maximise the opportunities provided by the bilateral agreement, emphasising that the implementation of the agreement will commence in earnest.

The Minister expressed his determination to put in place the appropriate mechanism to work out the modalities for a programme of action.

Addressing the global gathering on Friday, Vice President Shettima averred that Nigeria places a high premium on South-South cooperation as a platform for promoting sustainable development of the global South.

The bilateral agreement would focus on R&D as well as human resource development would further deepen the partnership between the two countries.

The areas of cooperation covered by the bilateral agreement include bio-technology; scientific Investigation and innovation; technological development; human resources development; specialist Exchange in the area of Science and Technology; and technology transfer for development areas.

It would be recalled that before the commencement of the Summit, Vice President, Kashim Shettima had told Cuba’s Vice President during his visit to him, that Nigeria would use the opportunity offered by the Summit to sign a very important MoU with Cuba for agricultural, scientific and technological development.

The historic event was witnessed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Adamu Lamuwa, Nigeria’s Ambassador to Cuba, Amb. Ben Okoyen and other senior government officials.