UNESCO'S PARTNERSHIP AND THE CHALLENGE OF
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPMENT
2005 Convocation Lecture:
By His Excellency:
Distinguished Vice-Chancellor and
I want to thank the Vice-Chancellor for his kind invitation to me to deliver this
year’s Convocation Lecture. I should also express my profound appreciation to the
members of the Convocation committee and all those who have made my choice possible.
It is certainly a great privilege to make a contribution to the series of the
convocation lectures of this outstanding university.
____
Federal University of Technology
Akure[FUTA] Ondo State, Nigeria
Wednesday: 14 December, 2005
Professor Michael Omolewa
Nigeria's Ambassador and Permanent
Delegate to the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO]
Paris, France
Chairman of this occasion
Principal Officers of the University
Members of the Governing Council here present
Respected Members of Senate of the institution
My lords spiritual and temporal
Esteemed staff and students of FUTA
Ladies and Gentlemen of the press
Invited guests
Dear brothers and sisters,
ladies and gentlemen
Dear friends:
It is my duty to commend this institution for sustaining the noble tradition of
inviting special guests to make a presentation which is then published and distributed
to a larger audience, while keeping the message in perpetuity through the printed form.
I am not aware of many institutions that sustain this important practice.
I am however aware that as early as the nineteenth century in Britain, the Mechanics
Institute adopted the tradition of inviting lecturers to make presentations which were
then shared by teachers and learners alike. I understand that some of those institutes
gradually transformed into polytechnics and later universities with continued focus on
science and technological development.
It is imperative for me to commend the Federal Government of Nigeria for its vision almost
a quarter of a century ago of establishing a distinct higher education institution in science
and technology. This move had followed the earlier efforts of establishing the polytechnics
in response to the need for manpower development in the area of science and technology that
can launch the nation to greatness. The uniqueness of the location of FUTA in this capital
city, the home of past heroic performance, where there is ample space and opportunities for
innovation and pursuit of excellence is also significant. We also know that FUTA offers a
great opportunity to launch out into the unknown, cultivate partnership all over the world
and make a decisive contribution to national and international development.
THE CASE FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPMENT:
But please let me not deviate from the task before us today, namely to share my views on the
input of the organisation with which I have been associated during the past few years and its
response to the subject of the challenge of science and technology for development.
When I was growing up, it was the general belief that the future of developing nations was
undeniably in the promotion of science and technology. It was firmly believed that genuine
development was possible only through the acquisition of scientific and technological knowledge.
It was therefore fashionable during my time at the University to study science: special
scholarships were made available, and science teachers were given extra allowance to attract
them to teaching. Many of those who studied arts subjects frequently informed their girl friends
that they were studying Maths Maths Physics, when they were reading history, geography and
religious knowledge with the hope of keeping the girls. That was of course before such subjects
as geology, sociology and other gys were attracted to the University.
Indeed, the crucial contribution of science and technology for any meaningful development
could by no means be glossed over or ignored. For experience has led to the conclusion that
political and economic developments were incapable of producing prosperity and good living
standards without the decisive input and contribution of science and technology.
THE STORY OF THE “S” IN UNESCO:
Yet it is interesting to note that science almost missed being made part of the mandate of UNESCO
sixty years ago when the United Nations Organisation was established in London. Let me recall that
from 1 to 16 November 1945, delegates from 43 countries including Ministers of Education had gathered
in London to deliberate on the formation of an international organisation, to be called the United
Nations Education and Cultural Reconstruction Organisation (UNECREC). It should be noted that during
the early consideration of the name of the organisation, science was not immediately scheduled for
inclusion perhaps because the first letter of invitation from the Conference of Allied Ministers of
Education (CAME) referred solely to educational issues. However, on arrival in London, the Ministers
began to broaden the scope of their debates to cover cultural topics. There was a further development
with the arrival of the United States delegation which submitted a proposal for the establishment of
an organisation with a wider goal. Indeed it was reported that as early as in January 1945 the United
States State Department was already referring to the creation of a United Nations Educational and
Cultural organisation (UNECO), which was also the provisional title that the November 1945 Conference
was intended to set up. A review of the title and mission of UNECO however became urgent when some
scientists began to press for the inclusion of science both in the title of the organisation and in
its programme of activities. Leading this initiative was Joseph Needham, Head of the British
Scientific Mission to China, and Julian Huxley, a British scientist, philosopher and educator who was
later to be appointed the first Director-General of the organisation.
During the debate on the subject it became evident that opposition to the inclusion of science was
based on the reference to the perceived wickedness of science and its potentials for destruction as
demonstrated by the dropping of the atom bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August
of the same year, 1945, an event which had made science and scientific research not only highly topical
but a contentious issue. But the point was also being made that science, and scientific knowledge could
be made to serve humanity and assist nations to develop. Members of the scientific community were also
known to be favourably disposed to sharing the vision, values, aspirations and concerns of the new
organisation. The subsequent Constitution of UNESCO revealed the relevance of science and technology
for the organisation. The first preamble paragraph of UNESCO’s constitution states that “since wars
began in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed”
and in Article I the constitution stipulates the purpose of the organization as to contribute” to
peace and security by promoting collaboration among the nations through education, science and culture
in order to further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and
fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race,
sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations”.
By this article, therefore, UNESCO was established to promote development through international
intellectual cooperation and collaboration in partnership in the fields of education, science and
culture, and this work seeks to explore how UNESCO has coped with this task in the face of the
challenges posed by science and technology in the area of development.
Indeed it could be explained that it was for this reason that Miss Ellen Wilkinson the British Minister
of Education and convener of the London meeting included in her statement at the Conference the
following passage:
‘Though Science was not included in the original title of the
Organisation, the British delegation will put forward a proposal
that it be included, so that the title would run ‘Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization.’ In these days, when we are
all wondering, perhaps apprehensively, what the scientists will do
to us next, it is important that they should be linked closely with
humanities and should feel that they have a responsibility to
mankind for the result of their labours. I do not believe that
any scientists will have survived the world catastrophe, who will
still say that they are utterly uninterested in the social
implications of their discoveries.’
In response to the concerns of the scientist the delegates, at the third meeting of the Conference, on 6
November, resolved to include science in the name of the organisation and that was how the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has continued to carry the significant ‘S’ and became
transformed to UNESCO.
But that was still not the end of the story as the convener of the Conference insisted that each delegate
should make a commitment to accept in full the agreements reached:
“Let us stand now in silence together for one moment…..
Thank you. I now have to ask the heads of delegations
to come to the signing table, in the alphabetic order
stated in the Final act which you have in your hands.
In addition to the Final Act, I am asked to say that
the Instrument and Constitution will also be available
for signing for those who are authorised to sign them”
After the signature by all delegates, she then concluded:
“I think those are all the signatures. Will delegates
just take their seats for one moment? …It is a
regrettable fact that there is not yet an anthem of
the United Nations which we could at this moment sing
as we end our Conference. I hope some genius in the
Musicians’ section of our educational international
will provide us with one. In the absence of that
item may I just simply draw this great Conference to
a close by thanking you all for your attendance and
wishing us all God speed in the work that we have
to do. The conference is now closed”.
The battle to accept Science was therefore conceived as a positive influence in the realisation
of the mandate of UNESCO to construct peace in the mind of men, following World War II. And in
spite of the initial reluctance to include science in the organisation’s mandate, wise counsels
prevailed and in the end the “S” in the organisation was added.
UNESCO AND THE PROMOTION OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPMENT:
Since its establishment 60 years ago, UNESCO has taken up the challenge of promoting Science
and Technology development, and has assisted all nations to do so. For UNESCO, the challenge
of science and technology to development is central: that is why the organisation has convened
meetings on the development of science and technology and supported seminars and workshops aimed
at generating awareness about the potentials of the contribution of science and technology to
development. UNESCO is convinced that the international community must be involved in the
process of knowledge generation and that policy makers and researchers must engage in constant
dialogue. For it was appreciated that in order that science and technology will play its role
appropriately in the development process it must be realized that the promotion of innovation
and the application of science and technology for development relate mainly to improving contact
between knowledge producers and users in the field of science and technology. The knowledge
produced by scientific research must not be allowed to rot in the volumes of publications on
the shelves of research laboratories and libraries. Rather research results must be harnessed
and put in the appropriate format that policy makers may be able to use in the formulation of
policies for the development process.
Therefore cooperation between science and technology knowledge producers – Researchers – and users –
Policy makers is extremely important; in fact vital in the innovation and application of science and
technology. This is especially important for developing and economically transitional countries.
The contact between scientific knowledge producers and users also include such activities as
university-industry, university community cooperation through science and technology centres and
parks, incubators, technology advisory centres, etc. It is also of vital importance to promote and
popularize engineering and science to address the need for human and institutional resource development
in science and technology. The strategy for such promotion and population activities should include,
among others, analysis and activities to address negative perceptions of engineering, science and
technology though, for example, engineering, science and technology education and ethics.
UNESCO PARTNERSHIP AND THE CHALLENGES OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:
A:
With Member States:
From the creation of UNESCO on November 16, 1945 the organization was charged, in part, according to
the first preambular paragraph of its constitution, “to create the defences of peace in the minds of
men.” Article 1 of its constitution stipulates that UNESCO was to fulfil that mandate by contributing
to peace and security by promoting collaboration among the nations through education, science and
culture in order to further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for human rights
and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinctions of race,
sex, language or religion, by the charter of the United Nations.
By Article 1 of its constitution, therefore, UNESCO was created to promote development through
international intellectual cooperation in the fields of education, science and culture. UNESCO
could only carry out this mandate through partnership with its member states on the one hand,
and, on the other, with other organizations from within or outside the United Nations family
working on similar or related mandate.
The question we need to explore after perusing the foregoing expose on the crucial role science
and technology have to play in development and the challenges militating against the fulfilment
of this role is; How has UNESCO Partnership been conducted and to what effect in the midst of
this apparent contradiction with particular reference to Nigeria and any other developing country?
As in all the areas of mandate of UNESCO, in the field of science and technology, UNESCO
partnership is conducted through the various avenues and strategies that UNESCO has put in
place for cooperation with its Member States, some of which are:
By mobilizing and acting as a catalyst for international cooperation in support
of initiatives in the area of science and technology by Member States;
By fostering exchanges and cooperation with the international financing agencies,
the academia, governmental, non-governmental (NGOs) and Community Based Organizations
(CBOs) and the private sector with the view of devising and implementing common
policies and strategies in the priority fields of science and technology in order to
promote a culture of peace and sustainable development;
By advicing Member States to establish National Commissions for UNESCO for the purpose
of associating the Member States and their principal bodies in the area of science and
technology, and other fields of UNESCO mandate, with the developments in the work of UNESCO;
By developing, under its regular programme and budget, after wide-ranging consultations with
Member States and relevant international agencies, governmental and non-governmental
organizations, activities in science and technology for development for implementation
in the Member States of the Organisation;
By developing, over the years, six major intergovernmental programmes in the applied sciences
and technology to focus attention on specific and critical areas of importance for development.
The programmes are:
a:
the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Programme (IOC) to focus attention on
marine services and ocean dynamics and their effect on the environment;
b:
the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) to focus attention on the
rational management of this precious resource efficiently, fairly
and environmentally.
c:
the International Programme on Man and the Biosphere (MAB) to focus on the
interaction between Man and Nature.
d:
the International Geological Correlation Programme (IGCP) to focus on the
earth’s crust and mineral resources, and
e:
the Management of Social Transformations (MOST) Programme to focus on
knowledge generation through research and its utilization for policy formulation;
f:
by the International Basic Science Programme approved by the 33rd Session of
the General Conference of UNESCO, October 2005, following the recommendation of the
World Science Forum (WSF) held in Budapest, Hungary, in 1999 to focus attention on
the Basic Sciences and Research for development as well as develop standard setting
instruments to regulate both the attitude of scientists and the use to which the results
of scientific research is put.
The World Science Forum (WSF), in itself, constitutes one of the most important actions taken by
UNESCO in its partnership intervention to address the challenges of science and technology for
development. It was in that Forum that the Director-General of UNESCO posed, to the international
scientific community, certain crucial questions regarding the trend in the acquisition and
utilization of scientific knowledge which did not augur well for development.
In his address to some 400 scientists, political decision-makers and representatives of
non-governmental organizations and the private enterprise gathered at the Forum, the
Director-General of UNESCO, Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, said:
“While recognizing that pursuit of knowledge for its
own sake has been and continues to be one of the most
noble and creative human motivations, we can no longer
consider knowledge as a simple external tool in relation
to the ends which we have set ourselves. […]
The questions which we have to address today are:
Knowledge for what? What is the impact of knowledge on
human welfare and on living organisms, the environment
and future generations? How should knowledge be developed
and applied so that its impact is beneficial and advances
other human dignity and human potential?”
It is clear that both the International Bioethics Committee (IBC) and the Intergovernmental
Bioethics Committee (IGBC) establish to deal with the whole issue of ethics in science resulted
from the recommendations of the World Science Forum. We are fully aware of the extremely useful
work of these two committees which has led to the adoption of the standard setting instruments to
regulate both the attitude and responsibility of scientists and the use to which scientific
discoveries and inventions are put in order that humanity and its environment are not put
to jeopardy.
Through these Intergovernmental Science Programmes which have their Governing Councils and so
operate outside the UNESCO Headquarters bureaucracy, nation experts, senior officials and other
participants achieve deeper cooperation and exchange of experiences, especially success stories,
among themselves and such exchanges of technical and scientific know-how very much benefit
individual country’s development programmes.
UNESCO has also established other programmes, some of which are specifically aimed to assist Africa
and the other developing countries and to promote further partnership with the Member States of the
organization for the utilization of science and technology for national development programmes in
these Member States. Prominent among these programmes are the; African Network of Scientific and
Technological Institutions (ANSTI). This is an organ of cooperation embracing ninety-eight African
institutes engaged in university-level training and research in the fields of science and technology
and research. The aim of ANSTI is to develop active collaboration among African scientific
institutions so as to promote research and development in areas of relevance to the development of
the Africa region.
The University-Industry-Science Partnership (UNISPAR) Programme. This was approved by the General
Conference of UNESCO at its 27th Session in 1993. The UNSPAR programme promotes university-industry
partnership in engineering, science and technology for industrial, economic and social development
with particular reference to developing countries and countries with economies in transition. The
main goals of the programme are to:
(i)
Adapt university engineering education to industrial needs;
(ii)
Promote partnership between universities and industry for the
retraining of practicing engineers (continuing engineering education);
(iii)
Find effective ways and means of improving the transfer of
research results to industry;
(iv)
Give assistance to UNESCO Member States in creating or strengthening
effective university-industry-science cooperation.
•
The Project on Culture of Maintenance. This was created by the Executive Board of UNESCO in 1997
in response to the need for attitudinal change among people, especially from the developing countries,
through awareness raising, knowledge and resources to promote effective maintenance management through
the creation of a project on the culture of maintenance. At its 30th Session in 2001, the General
Conference approved allocation of funds from its regular and extrabudgetary resources for the creation
of a sub-regional project on Culture of Maintenance as a trans-sectoral activity and “Centre for
Maintenance” and “Maintenance Network (MainteNet)” initially as a pilot project to serve five
participation focal countries in Africa namely, Kenya, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
•
UNITWIN Networks and UNESCO Chairs Programme. These deal with training and research activities
and cover all areas of activities in UNESCO’s mandate prominent among which is science and technology.
The principal beneficiaries of this programme are institution’s of higher learning in developing
countries and countries on transition. These programmes have undergoing regular evalunctions since
their inception and their future strategies are oriented towards enhancement of the programme’s
relevance, efficiency and impact on national development efforts.
B:
With Organisations in the Private Sector:
•
UNESCO-L’Oreal Partnership – “For women in Science” is a partnership of
international stature, which aims to improve the position of women in science
by recognizing, every year, outstanding women researchers who have contributed
to scientific progress (L’Oreal-UNESCO Awards), and young women scientists
engaged in exemplary and promising projects (UNESCO-L’Oreal Fellowships).
This award is the fruit of an exemplary collaboration, illustrating how the
private sector-L’Oreal, the world’s number one cosmetics company – and UNESCO –
an intergovernmental institution – can pursue joint projects to support women
of science, encourage the advancement of knowledge and enhance development
on a global scale.
The L’Oreal-UNESCO partnership is a particularly welcome project for UNESCO,
an Organisation which from creation in 1945 has been dedicated to eliminating
all forms of discrimination and promoting equality between men and women.
•
UNESCO-Microsoft Cooperation Agreement was signed in November 2004 by which
Microsoft joined the coalition of major private sector partners supporting UNESCO’s
global strategy to draw on information and communication technologies (ICTs) to improve
education, social and economic development world wide. In addition to L’Oreal and
Microsoft, the other partners, from the private sector, with whom UNESCO has established
excellent cooperation in the various fields of competence of the Organisation, over the
past years, include DaimlerChrysler, Hewlett Packard, Suez and Intel constituting an
example of what can be described as responsible corporate citizenship and partnership.
UNESCO took up the implementation of this task given to the organization by mobilizing
and acting as a catalyst for international cooperation in support of initiatives by Member
States, by fostering exchanges and cooperation in the international financing agencies, the
academic, government and non-governmental organizations, community based organizations and
the private sector with the view of devising and implementing common policies and strategies
in the priority fields of the organization, which include science and technology, in order
to order to promote a culture of peace and sustainable development. The organisation thus
convened the World Conference on Science in Budapest in 1999.
Yasuko IKENOBO, of the Japanese House of Representatives has aptly defined the elements of
current development when she stated: We are living in a society where, due to rapid technological
development, especially in information and communication technologies, there are changes taking
place, not only in social and economic systems, but in our daily lives as well. News of events
can be transmitted to the other side of the world instantly, and people’s movements and activities
increasingly across national boundaries.
Through these changes we can learn from our own living room about lives and events in remote
countries. We have a growing interest in different languages, societies, cultures and religions.
We now have access to larger amount of information and the experience of others. Issues in different
countries affect us as if they were close to home. And there is a growing awareness that countries
need to cooperate in addressing issues that affects all humankind, such as those related to the
environment. At the same time, globalisation has produced negative impacts, such as Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which recently affected different parts of the world, infectious
mosquito-borne diseases and international crime.
Through promoting international co-operation in the fields of education, science and culture and
communication, UNESCO seeks to contribute to world peace and security. And UNESCO is also committed
to making available scientific and technological knowledge to the wider society that is excluded.
At the period of globalization, UNESCO has stood up and requested all nations to give globalization
a human face. As the Director-General once put it in defining UNESCO’s response to globalization:
How can a process be “human” if large parts of humanity are left out of account?” (Globalization
with a Human Face: Benefiting All, Tokyo, Japan, 2003 p.20).
UNESCO’S ROLE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES:
The foregoing account of UNESCO’s partnerships in addressing the challenges posed by science and
technology in the development process amply illustrates the vital role which UNESCO has played
in developing strategies, policies and programmes for the effective utilization of scientific
and technological knowledge to bring about development especially in favour of the developing
countries in general but Africa in particular.
The real issue, today is actually the extent to which Africa and the other developing countries
have taken advantage of UNESCO’s partnership and interventions in the utilization of the
opportunities offered by available scientific and technological knowledge and informating in
bringing about meaningful development in their territories.
While it is true that the majority of African and other developing countries have left much
to be desired in addressing the issue of development of their countries it must be recognized
that some countries in Asia and South America have made commendable use of the partnership and
other assistance offered by UNESCO and other development agencies in transforming the fortunes
of their countries for the better. The effort of countries like Asia, Brazil and India in this
direction readily comes to mind. The visionary political leaders of these countries and the
others toeing the same line saw science as a most-critical and essential component of national
development and resolved to establish educational and research programmes and institutions that
would give science a place of priority in their national development programmes. These
countries recognized that as long as a nation has a weak scientific and technological capacity
it will remain dependent on the wealthier nations. In other words, that a weak national
scientific and technological capacity translates into poverty for that nation. They took
steps to articulate and implement the appropriate measures that would reverse that trend
inspite of the cost and sacrifice to the peoples and nations. In this process the scientists
and institutions of these countries are playing a major role in many areas of modern science,
including biotechnology information and communication technologies, and space technology.
The achievement of the Green Revolution in India and the development of significant national
capacity in the new technologies of information, computing and communication bear witness to
the ingenuity, dedication and energy of the Indian scientists and technologists.
Today, we are all witnesses to the outcome of this deliberate policy to get things
right and the attendant great cost and sacrifice made by the peoples of these nations.
These nations are now enjoying evolving economic prosperity and good living standards
resulting from good governance and systematic development. The role played by scientists,
scientific and technological knowledge in the success stories of these nations
are very evident.
PARTNERSHIP WITH NIGERIA
Science and Technology for Development:
For a very long time, in the history of development, the crucial role that science and
technology would inevitably play in development was largely ignored, or at best, downplayed,
by politicians and policy makers especially of Africa and some of the other developing
countries who concentrated efforts and financial resources on economic and political
strategies which they felt would achieve the development of their nations. However, the
failure of economic and political development to produce prosperity and good living
standards for the peoples of these nations has brought out the stack reality of the crucial
role that science and technology must play in the development process if the world is to
achieve an all-round meaningful development.
This fact was underscored in the report of the Task Force on Science Technology & Innovation
of the Millennium Development Project where the report highlighted the critical importance of
knowledge and innovation for development in every country because responding to challenges in
areas such as economic productivity, agriculture, education, gender inequality, health, water,
sanitation, environment and participation in the global economy, which are crucial in the
development process, will require increased use of scientific and technical knowledge.
In the vision document of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) the role of
science and technology as engines for economic growth and sustainable development was very
clearly recognized. The introductory NEPAD document explicitly stated that scientific
advances and technological innovation are the main drivers of economic growth and development
emphasizing that the ability of countries and their structures to create, distribute and utilize
scientific and technological knowledge is now a major determinant of their competitiveness in
the global economy considering that countries that posses this ability are also able to use
science and technology to improve the quality of life of their people, that is, development.
In its background document The Nelson Mandela Institution for knowledge building and the
advancement of science and technology in Sub-Saharan Africa recognized that it is technological
advances that have propelled the development of many countries in recent years and that
Sub-Saharan Africa has fallen even further behind in science and technology, and one can add,
consequently in development too. The institution therefore envisions the transformation of
Sub-Saharan Africa’s industrial and economic landscape and the strengthening of its socio-economic
foundation. This initiative which is rooted in a strong public-private and industry-academy
partnership for a long term overall sustainability is a global effort to foster Sub-Saharan
Africa’s economic growth and diversification, industrial development and employment creation
through the promotion of excellence in science, engineering and their applications based on
competitive processes, transparency and accountability.
Therefore science and technology shape, not only our knowledge but also our forms of education,
our life styles and our world as a whole in every domain, from the living environment to transport,
from work to leisure and from the economy to communication. Science and Technology shape development.
From the foregoing the critical role of science and technology for development cannot be
overemphasized. But in order for science and technology to play this role in the development
process, it must be recognized/realized that the promotion of innovation and the application of
science and technology for development relate mainly to improving the contact between knowledge
producers (Researchers) and knowledge users (policy makers/politicians/public) in the field of
science and technology. The knowledge obtained from scientific research must not be talked away
in the volumes of scientific and learned publications on the shelves of research laboratories and
libraries. Rather, the knowledge so acquired must be harnessed and put in the proper form that
policy makers can use as the design of policies should be fully informed and grounded upon the best
available scientific advice and evidence so that the scientific underpinning and consequencies of
policies, decisions and development strategies are clearly understood and taken into consideration
from the beginning of the policy design.
One point that needs be stated here, perhaps as an innovation, for the developing countries who
are not in the practice so far, regarding policy design is that in defining policy research
priorities, developing countries must not underestimate their potentials. They should consider not
only their needs and weaknesses in terms of scientific capacity and information, but also their own
strengths in terms of local knowledge, know-how and human and natural resources.
The contact which is advocated between producers and users of scientific knowledge as very crucial
for developing and economically transitional countries include such activities as university-industry,
university-community cooperation through science and technology centres, fairs and parks, incubators,
technology advisory centres etc. Another avenue for such contact is to promote and popularize
engineering and science to address the need for human and institutional resource development in science
and technology. The strategy for such promotion and popularization activities should include, among
others, analysis and activities to address the negative perceptions of science, engineering and
technology through, for example, science, engineering and technology education and ethics because
with the passage of time, awareness has grown of the possible ill effects that technology could be
used to produce and consequently, of the need for global vigilance to anticipate and forestall, not
only natural catastrophies, but also the adverse consequences of human actions themselves in the ill
and misguided use of technology.
Challenges of Science and Technology for Development:
In spite of the fact that African countries made a bold attempt to reverse their development
stagnation by adopting the Monrovia Strategy (July 1979) and the Lagos Plan of Action [LPA}
[April 1980), a visionary, far-reaching and unprecedented blue print on how to foster collective
self-reliance and sustainable development of the continent, Africa remains the poorest and
economically marginalized continent in the world. The reasons for this are not far to find as
they can be attributed to the following factors which constitute some of the major challenges
of Science and Technology for development especially in Africa.
Implementation of specific policies and programmes:
Africa has not got her priorities right with respect to the implementation of specific policies
and programmes as regards the development process. For instance, their science and technology
policies formulated in the 1970s and 1980s when development imperatives and technological
opportunities were different focused on organizational aspects and not programme issues.
Such policies are still in use in some of these countries thereby will not pay adequate
attention to science and technology which are the sources of economic change and
sustainable development.
Inadequate funding of Science and Technology and Research:
African countries have over-depended on external financial support often targeting short
term activities and solutions that may not fall within the areas of development imperatives
of the recipient countries. In the 1980s and 1990s science and technology received low
priority in the African countries despite considerable empirical evidence from South-East
Asia and other regions showing that investment in science and technology yields direct and
indirect benefits to national economies.
There was declining public expenditure in Research and Development (R & D) in most developing
countries and where research activities occurred they were most basic research and not applied
research. The low investment in science and technology also manifested in declining quality of
science and engineering education at all levels of the educational system and the continent
has continued to loose some of its best scientific and technical expertise to other regions
of the world especially Europe and America.
Infrastructural Decay:
The report of the Task Force on Science and Technology and Innovation of the Millennium
Development Project stated that adequate infrastructure is a necessary, if not sufficient,
requirement for enhancing the creation and application of science, technology and innovation
in development. The report went further to advise that developing countries need to adopt
strategies to improve their infrastructure in ways that promote the technological development
necessary for sustained economic growth.
The situation cannot be better put to the developing countries in general but Africa in
particular where the infrastructure for R and D has been neglected and are decaying whereas
institutions for higher education, particularly universities and technical colleges, are in
urgent need of renewal after many years of neglect and disorientation from local and national
priorities.
Like the other developing countries, Nigeria also embraced the vast opportunities offered by
UNESCO in attempting to apply scientific and technological information and knowledge to
development but Nigeria cannot be said to have achieved the same level of success. UNESCO has had
a long standing cooperation with Nigeria since her entry, as the 58th Member of the organization
soon on attainment of independence in 1960. The establishment of both the Nigerian National
Commission for UNESCO, a Permanent Delegation of Nigeria to UNESCO at the organization’s
headquarters in Paris and the opening of a UNESCO office in Nigeria were concrete steps in
furtherance of that cooperation.
UNESCO played very significant role in the promotion of teacher training in Nigeria by technically
assisting teacher training institutions in Nigeria prominent among which are Alvan Ikoku College
of Education, Owerri, and Teacher Training College Abraka to name only a few. UNESCO also provided
consultancy expert advice to Nigeria in the establishment of the Federal Ministry of Science and
Technology and several Engineering Faculties of Nigerian Universities such as the Faculty of
Engineering of the University of Lagos, Akoka.
But by far the most significant and productive step in collaboration and partnership between Nigeria
and UNESCO were those of President Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR, who initiated a Special Plan of Action
to re-establish and solidify cooperation between UNESCO and Nigeria soon on his election as the
democratic President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in February 1979. In his first visit, to
the Director-General of UNESCO, Mr. Federico Mayor on 18th March 1999 proposing the renewal of
contact with UNESCO, President Obasanjo alerted UNESCO to gear itself up for enhanced cooperation
and partnership with Nigeria and held preliminary discussion with Mr. Mayor on the areas of cooperation,
their forms and ways and means.
Both Nigeria and UNESCO followed up so fast that the 30th Session of the General Conference of UNESCO
in October 1999 in its draft resolution 56, the General Conference instructed the Director-General to:
“take all appropriate measures to increase cooperation with Nigeria in the framework of the implementation
of the Programme and Budget approved by the General Conference at its 30th Session and through the
mobilization of extra budgetary resources”.
When President Obasanjo met the new Director-General of UNESCO, Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, in Paris, in
February 2000 during his official visit to France, the interaction between Nigeria and UNESCO had gone
far enough to enable them sign an Aide Memoire expressing their continued commitment to the
“re-invigoration of the cooperation between Nigeria and UNESCO”.
The science component of the Plan is focused on Reforming and Revitalizing the Science, Technology
and Innovation Systems of Nigeria through a system-wide review of the science system, the training
of senior managers of the system and the design of a financing system for science and technology
in Nigeria.
It will involve the participation, at different levels, of all the 75 research establishments,
55 universities, and 44 polytechnics in the country and will lead to the development of a draft
innovation policy document and the elaboration of a multi-year Plan of Action on Science, Technology
and Innovation which will be used by Government as a framework for investment guidance at the national
level and for dialogue with donors.
UNESCO is also in partnership with Nigeria in her project on “The Design and Implementation of
Initiative in Science and Technology Education for Primary and Secondary Schools and Colleges
of Education”. The project description recognizes that “scientific advances, technological
changes and innovation have become key drivers of the economic performance of any nation and so
the ability to harness the potential of new scientific and technical knowledge and diffuse such
knowledge widely has become a major source of competitive advantage, wealth creation and improvement
of the quality of life.” In other words the generation and application of scientific and technical
knowledge leads to development hence the vision of embarking on this project which will revitalize
science teaching in primary and secondary schools through the supply of micro-science kits
to these schools.
The project is particularly desirable as the coordination arrangement for its implementation
has been designed using a bottom-up approach since the immediate beneficiaries are the states,
that is, people at the grassroots. The involvement of UNESCO both in the design and implementation,
under its self-benefiting funds-in-trust arrangement, ensures successful and high quality delivery
on investment. UNESCO also collaborated with Nigeria in the Phase I of the UNESCO-Nigeria project
on the Revitalization of Technical and Vocational Education and Training. Under the project,
Nigeria has reviewed fifty-seven Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) curricula
incorporating cross-cutting projects such as Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and
entrepreneurship development. Nigeria has also established Seven Staff Development Centres and
trained over 3000 TVET personnel as part of her capacity building programme. The Phase II of the
project will consolidate the gains of Phase I and explore new grounds in support of the national
development process.
CONCLUSION:
The foregoing catalogue of projects in which UNESCO has developed partnership with Nigeria to
generate and utilize scientific and technological knowledge for national development is by no
means an exhaustic list.
But let me, in conclusion, which doubles as my recommendation, express the strong desire and
hope that Nigeria will seize this rare opportunity offered by the revitalized Nigeria-UNESCO
cooperation and the project on the Reform of the Science, Technology and Innovation System of
Nigeria to do for Nigeria what China, Brazil and India has done for their countries.
In its bold attempt at Meeting Everyone’s Needs, the National Economic Empowerment and
Development Strategy (NEEDS) recognized that: “Nigeria has one of the weakest economies
in the world and it has lost decades of development as a result of slow economic growth.”
In this regard NEEDS proposes developing the industrial sector by relying more on local
resources and less on imports. This will be guided by a local research and local development
strategy that seeks to promote science and technology based enterprises in its development policy.
Let me hope that the visionary political leaders of Nigeria will, like those of China, Brazil and
China, recognize that as long as a nation has a weak scientific and technological capacity, its
economy will remain weak, and that nation will continue to be dependent on wealthier nations.
If the scientific and technological capacity of Nigeria is developed to strength, the economy of
Nigeria will correspondingly become strong and Nigeria will join the league of developed countries.
This has worked for China, Brazil and India and it is fast working for other developing countries
that have, like Nigeria, caught the vision. It will surely work for Nigeria if honestly
and sincerely applied.
TOWARDS A CONCLUSION AND CHALLENGE TO THE GRADUATING CLASS:
It is now my pleasure to congratulate this crop of new graduates to which the destiny of the country
in the promotion of science and technology is being transferred. You have a serious business before
you because there is so much to do to assist Africa grow and catch up with the rest of the world.
You therefore have an important role to play: it is imperative; indeed it is your duty and
responsibility to commit yourselves to the development of this land. I think it was General
Yakubu Gowon who once said that we have no other nation but this one that we can call our own.
And let us face it, our land is blessed: blessed with natural and human resources and with
peoples of industry and integrity. It is true that we also have our challenges and frustrations:
but is there a nation without such obstacles?
We are particularly fortunate to have a democratic government and a committed administration that
is poised to use science and technology to attain the heights our forebears could not reach. We
have described the mandate of UNESCO, an international organisation that has a proven track record
of excellence in supporting developing nations. And we have drawn your attention to how President
Obasanjo identified UNESCO as a reliable partner in the process of transforming Nigeria.
I would warmly commend to you, the cultivation of genuine partnership with UNESCO. We must remind
ourselves that the development of programmes and activities and policy formulation and advocacy
of UNESCO in the critical areas of Education, communication, science and technology, social
sciences, informatics, culture, arts and crafts, museums and libraries have thus far encouraged
Nigeria to share ideas and challenges with the wider world. The potentials of the organisation
working in close collaboration with Nigeria and the initiatives of your brilliant minds must
lead us to our land so eloquently defined in the Second National Development Plan of 1970- 1974:
A united and self-reliant nation
A great and dynamic economy
A just and egalitarian society
A land bright and full of opportunities
for all citizens, and
A free and democratic society.
So help us God.
Thank you for your patience, and God bless you and all that is yours. Congratulations.
REFERENCES:
Archives of UNESCO, Paris, Minutes of the General
Conference of UNESCO from 1946
Fernando Valderrama, A History of UNESCO
UNESCO, International Conference on Globalization
with a Human Face, 30 -31 July, 2004,Tokyo, Japan
UNESCO, Proceedings of the Conference on the Reform and
Revitalization of the National Science and Innovation
System, Abuja, 2-4 August , 2005