The national space agency is one of the country’s pride agency that if well funded will lead to a rapid development in all sectors of our national life.
The Nigerian space programme has inspired a generation of students and innovators and the role of National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) is diminishing today due to lack of adequate fundings for its programmes and the number of global competitiveness is increasing.
The South Africa forage into the space programme and its success has shown policy makers that our country needs to wake up because it has fallen dangerously behind our African brothers in the space exploration programmes.
Consecutive Nigerian governments and administrations invested heavily in science and technology using the old methods to meet the challenges of the present and most importantly the future.Therefore, the need for the Buhari administration to invest in the present through the adequate funding of the space programme to meet our present challenges is and should be a rapid departure from the past of investments in education to a systematic approach to the present through NASRDA.
This investments would propel Nigeria to victory in the so call space programme in Africa and sow the seeds for future innovation and economic competitiveness of our country.
Experts says, yet, since the attainment of democracy NASRDA’s budget from federal spendings has waned and its therefore important that the Buhari administration must show political will by upping its spendings in the space exploration programme of the country and because of the country’s dwindling resources base, the private sector must be invited through the instrumentality of the public-private partnership (PPP) be seen as a last resource to leapfrog the country’s space programmes to its expected enviable height.
Through the space programmes, the Nation has begun the process of building the Nigerian prowess in scientific and technological developments,including the creation of NASRDA, which is the nations civilian arm of space explorative programmes.
The present Director General of NASRDA must be commended for showing leadership at the agency and setting for the nation a goal and missions in the space explorative race.
Dr. Halilu Ahmad Shaba has stressed the need, value and urgency of the funding of the space explorative programmes of NASRDA by the government as the country is today on a mission through NASRDA. He is not unmindful of the fact that our nation chose to go on this space exploration mission not because it is easy but expedient, but it is hard.
The nation’s space exploration goals will serve to organise and measure the best of our energies and skills and it is a national challenge.
That challenge is one that we are willing and must be ready to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone in our national interests, and one we must win and can win.
Our president today, Muhammadu Buhari, is a leader that has shown tremendous good will for the future of our country and he is an avid believer the nation’s space programmes is a veritable tool for national advancements and developments particular in the field of science, technology, security, industry and education etc.
He is expected to set for our country a mission and a goal in space exploration which would require the commitments of future presidents and leaders of our country in space exploration. It is known that today space exploration is expensive, but it is reactively a minor line item in the budget and we need to because of its national importance change that to embrace the future.
Historically, 70 to 90 percents of NASRDA’s budget goes to private ventures – either to design and manufacture satellites for our country – while NASDRA maintains close oversights and use the manufactured satellites but because of shortages in budgetary provisions it is expected that our governments take seriously it private sector by inviting it to partner to close the funding gaps the agency needs urgently.
Advocates of space commercialisations believes private firms that won NASRDA’s contracts can provide the fundings at a lower costs. They say NASRDA could focus more on missions that push scientific and explorative frontiers and it should now become like the US defence advanced research projects agency or the national scientific foundations (NSF) by setting objectives such as capturing an osteroids and then giving grants to private firms and this would make clear the commercial space industry is the future in Nigeria in our national space programmes.
Today some entrepreneur see a commercial future in space beyond NASRDA contracts and satellites launches. The governments should see the importance of funding science,technology,engineering and mathematics education through the funding of NASRDA. Space exploration can also foster innovations and pushing the limits of technology and requires the collaborations of some of the brightests people across multiple discipline.
– Musa Musawa writes from Abuja.
