ABUJA - The Minister of Science and
Technology, Dr Abdu Bulama, said on
Tuesday in Abuja that Nigeria would
design, fabricate, test and launch its
indigenous satellite by 2018. Bulama stated this when he inspected
facilities at the Obasanjo Space Centre
of the National Space Research and
Development Agency (NASRDA). The minister said the centre had the
mandate to launch Nigeria’s first
indigenous satellite by 2018, and
described space science and
technology programme as an
important component of the Nigerian dream. According to him, the satellite
programme has a very positive role to
play in the transformation agenda of
President Goodluck Jonathan’s
administration. Bulama directed that the assembly,
testing and integration centre, and the
Synthetic Aperture Rader Satellite,
which are under construction, be
completed by 2015. "The Assembly, Testing and
Integration Centre, and the Synthetic
Aperture Rader Satellite are the
nucleus of NASRDA. "It is here that we will, by the grace of
God, launch our first made in Nigeria
satellite by 2018. "By 2018, by the grace of God, we
want to see made-in-Nigeria satellite
launched. It will be built in this
laboratory and launched by our
Nigerian scientists,” he said. According to him, competence and
capabilities in satellite technology
serve as tool for national growth and a
huge contribution to the development
and benefit of mankind. Earlier, the Director-General of
NASRDA, Dr Seidu Mohammed, who
conducted Bulama round the facilities,
said the agency could boast of world-
class technology in term of facilities. Mohammed said that the about six
million U.S. dollars (about N1 billion)
annual budgetary allocation to
NASRDA was inadequate, given the
huge development expected of the
agency. The director-general also said that no
serious country allocates less than 100
million U.S. dollars to its space agency. According to him, NASRDA pays N1.6
million monthly to an Israeli company
to maintain facilities at one of the
centres of the agency, and also spends
100 pounds servicing its two dishes. He said the Emergency Management
Project of the agency could be used in
tracking kidnapped victims, car theft,
pipeline vandalisation, fire outbreak,
flood and accidents.
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