President Muhammadu Buhari has said that Nigeria will soon produce local Covid-19 vaccines which will combat the spread of the pandemic in the country.
The President who was represented by his Vice, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo made this known at an organised forum for the development of a local vaccine organized by the Nigerian Academy of Engineering.
President Buhari expressed satisfaction on intelligence, potentials and academic ingenuity exuded by Nigerian Academy of Engineers and scientists which had exposed the nation’s scientists’ potentials, skills, innovation, diversity of experience and competence.
Speaking further, President Buhari stated that the African Centre of Excellence for the Genomics of Infectious Disease, based at Redeemer’s University Ede, Osun State had also “developed an efficacious rapid test for COVID-19 and have been made available to the public.”
He added that, “there are also efforts on therapeutics of different kinds,” he said. “Automation, machine learning, and artificial intelligence are now helping to improve vaccines, experiments, and therapeutics. As a result, there’s a lot of synergy here between science and engineering.”
“I believe the pandemic has genuinely opened up the tremendous talents and ingenuity of Nigerian scientists and engineers, and the next few years will be extremely exciting if the current momentum is sustained,” he says.
“We are proud of the Nigerian Academy of Engineers; your membership is made up of experienced Nigerian engineers from all disciplines, business sectors, and engineering in Nigeria and the diaspora,” he said. “This gives it the breadth and variety of experience and expertise it needs to provide advice on virtually every aspect of engineering in the country.”
On the role of science, technology, and engineering in combating the pandemic, Buhari submitted that the world is currently looking up to experts in these disciplines for “immediate solutions and answers.
“As engineers, I’m sure you’ll accept that one of the most poignant lessons of the pandemic response has been the crucial interdependence of science and engineering.” Buhari said.
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