The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, has revealed that the federal government was making strident efforts to ensure that Nigeria build and launch its own satellite soon.

Onu disclosed this at the official inauguration of space, seismological and other infrastructure projects at the Center for Geodesy and Geodynamics main observatory Seismic Network Center in Toro Local Government Area of Bauchi State.

But in a statement issued yesterday by the Director of Press, Mr. AbdulGaniyu Aminu, said that satellite would improve the quality of life of Nigerians because it would have positive impact on the environment, medicine, education, security, intelligence gathering, infrastructural development and mobile telephony for good of the country.

Though the statement was quite silent on when the country would be launching the satellite or even work had started on it at all.

The Center for Geodesy Geodynamics was established to carry out earth observation research as well as predict and monitor natural disasters not only in the country but in other parts of the world.

The minister noted that incidents of earth tremor witnessed in several parts of the country between 2015 and 2018 had made it important for Nigeria to be well prepared to avoid future occurrence.

Onu said, “No nation can plan effectively without according primacy to the occurrence of natural disasters,

“The goals and objective of the centre to achieve Nigeria’s capability manpower and hardware development that can sufficiently address space geodesy, crustal deformation, coastal deformation, subsidence and global main sea level monitoring.”

Onu added that investment in space science technology by Nigeria was to enable the nation take a great leap and catch up with the developed world.

Earlier, the Director General of National Space for Research and Development Agency (NARSDA), Prof. Seidu Mohammed, said that the Seismic Network and Monitoring Center was part of the space-based and geophysical tools that would help Nigeria in great deal in global geodetic and geodynamical activities and monitoring, prediction of seismic activities and mitigation mechanism.

He said the agency needed more funds to enable it acquire modern earthquake monitoring, detecting and networking equipment and establishment of more seismic stations that would be collated, with Global Positioning system (GPS) , for robust geohazards studies in Nigeria and its immediate environs. (THISDAY)

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