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In a bid to bolster Microbe biodiversity in Nigeria, Professor Olamode Olukanni, the Dean, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, on Friday, stressed the need for the Federal Government to create a ministry of Biotechnology in the country.
He added that the ministry should be vested with the responsibility of establishing a laboratory in each of the six geopolitical zones of the nation.
Olukanni spoke at the 14th inaugural lecture of the Redeemer University, Ede, Osun State, tagged, 'Wonder shall never end: the biotechnological wonders of the maker, the man and microbes.'
He posited that the ministry should exist along with the present Ministry of Science and Technology.
He said, “To harness the wealth of microbial diversity and the wonderful endowment in diversity, Nigeria needs to see biotechnology as a field of endeavour that we can leverage to solve many problems and come out of poverty.
“I want to urge the Federal Government of Nigeria to create a Ministry of Biotechnology while still retaining the Ministry of Science and Technology; this will ensure purposeful development and funding of biotechnology.
“The Ministry of Biotechnology must be tasked to establish six laboratories, one in each of the geo-political zones of the nation, which will contain all equipment needed for biotechnological research.”
He charged relevant ministries especially the Nigeria Universities Commission, NUC, to mandate the donation of basic equipment to all tertiary institutions annually in order to ensure adequate scientific infrastructures.
