Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Applied Biotechnology Institute of Nigeria (ABINL) has said Nigeria can generate over $10 billion from biotechnology crops if appropriate investment is made into skill development.
ABINL Chief Executive Officer, Prof. Diuto Esiobu, who stated this, at a stakeholders meeting, recently, to review and adopt the Biotechnology Aptitude Certification Examination (BACE), in Abuja, disclosed that a state in the United States of America earned over $20 billion using one bacterium annually through biotechnology.
She thus emphasised the need for credentialing skills for the knowledge-driven economy of the 21st century.
Esiobu also expressed high hopes for Nigeria’s brilliant youth and thanked the government and collaborators from the industry to the academia for the milestone reached in training over 600 top-level leaders of biotech in the country today.
Said her, “certification training can also help boost our economy by providing numerous jobs , create novel products and transform economy with new revenue sources.
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“Partnership with the government is useful but more importantly the content of the certificate is what will serve the certificate itself.
She explained that “Nigerians who become certified by this international biotech certification in process will be known worldwide, they will have a global access to employment in biotech sectors,” she stressed.
Recall that the Director General, National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Dr. Alex Akpa, had disclosed that the country loses over 75 per cent its fruits due to adequate storage facilities.
“Nigeria lost 75 per cent of its fruits production due to the inability to preserve and that discourages farmers to farm. We need to set up factories and convert these fruits to concentrates and store them.”