The Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions (ASURI) has inducted the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, into its Hall of Fame, describing him as the “most labour-friendly Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The induction of the Minister, which took place in Abuja in the auditorium of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), was the high point of the Sensitization Workshop of the Staff of the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (FMSTI) on the Full Implementation of the Presidential Executive Order No. 5.
In attendance at the induction, which was performed by the secretary-general of ASURI, Dr Theophilus Ndubuaku, were the president of the union, Dr Nnamdi Onunka, and other members of the Central Working Committee, notably Comrade Kassim Izebe (vice president), Comrade Jessica Effiong (treasurer), Comrade Emmanuel Akabueze (financial secretary), Comrade Mohammed Nma Baba (PRO), Comrade Stephen Badu (internal auditor) and Comrade Anslem Eragbe (organising secretary).
The ceremony, which featured many Chief Executives of Research Institutes, including the Executive Vice Chairman of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Professor Mohammed S. Haruna, was the first official outing of the new Permanent Secretary of FMSTI, Mrs Monisola Udoh.
The citation of Dr Onu, as read at the ceremony, is as follows:
Your Excellency, for the second time in three years, the Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions (ASURI) is here to honour you. We recall that on the 28th of May 2019, when you were ending your first tenure as the Honourable Minister of Science and Technology, posting a superlative performance, we joined the Ministry’s valedictory session. That day, we made a presentation titled, “The Making of a First-Class Minister,” not only in acknowledgement of the First Class which you scored all through your academic life but also for posting a First Class performance as a Minister.
Today, we are back and better – to honour you by inducting you on merit, as the most labour-friendly Honourable Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, into the newly created ASURI HALL OF FAME. It is remarkable and noteworthy that you are the first-ever inductee into the Hall of Fame of our great Union.
Read Also: The inauguration of the Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions(ASURI) Branch of Librarians Registration Council of Nigeria (LRCN) on 24th February 2022 in Abuja
It is on record that you have always been a MAN OF DISTINCTIONS. After coming out of the Izzi High School, Abakaliki, in the present-day Ebonyi State, with a Distinction in the West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE) and the College of Immaculate Conception (CIC), Enugu, with another distinction in the Higher School Certificate, being the best overall student in your set, you graduated from the University of Lagos in 1976 with a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree in Chemical Engineering with First Class Honours. And, without passing through a Master’s degree, you proceeded to Berkeley, California, United States, where you capped it all with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Chemical Engineering at the reputable University of California.
In 1981, you joined the University of Port Harcourt as a lecturer in the Department of Industrial Chemistry and initiated the establishment of the Department of Chemical Engineering, which you joined as a pioneer. Thereafter, you nurtured that young department to maturity as Head of Department. As a HOD and, ipso facto, a member of the University Senate, you were elected into the Governing Council of the University of Port Harcourt, serving out the entire term of four years.
While in that great Nigerian university, you were not an all-books-and-nothing-else academic as you offered your services to the wider public both in the old Rivers State and your beloved country at large. Among others, you served as president of Rotary Club of Port Harcourt; chairman, Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers, Rivers, Cross Rivers and Akwa Ibom States chapter; president, Raw Materials Society of Nigeria; Member, Board of Directors, Nigerian Cement Company, Nkalagu; member, pioneer Governing Council, Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC).
You launched into politics from the University of Port Harcourt, running for and winning the election as the first Governor of the old Abia State in 1991. As the Executive Governor of Abia State, you became the first Chairman of the Conference of Governors, now known as the Governors’ Forum.
Your Excellency, in 1999, you became the Presidential flagbearer of the then All Peoples’ Party (APP), which later became the All Nigeria Peoples’ Party (ANPP) and you were after, in 2010, elected as the party’s National Chairman. In that position as the chairman of the largest opposition party in the country, you were the undisputed leader of the opposition.
By appointing you as the Honourable Minister of Science and Technology in 2015, Mr President put a round peg in a round hole. Since your appointment six and a half years ago, you have put up a superlative performance such that all stakeholders in the Science, Technology and Innovation family unanimously agree that if we could rate Ministers’ performance like a university degree, you have earned First Class Honours.
Your Excellency, you hit the ground running because Mr President inaugurated the National Research and Innovation Council (NRIC) on January 7, 2016, less than four weeks after the appointment of Ministers on 11th December 2015, and for this, there was a loud ovation for you within the sector as all stakeholders saw your hand in it. You followed suit by promptly putting together the Technical Advisory Committee of the NRIC.
Nigerian scientists, especially researchers, will never forget your effort and struggle towards the actualization of an institutionalized mechanism for coordination and funding research, which has not been in place since independence. When eventually the Bill for the National Research and Innovation Council (NRIC) is passed and assented to and its history is being written, your name will be written in gold for the role that you have played and continue to play towards its actualization. Indeed, as the Honourable Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, you are the round peg in the round hole.
Your Excellency, it is on record that during your tenure in the last six years plus, you have achieved the following verifiable milestones:
- During your tenure, Mr President issued Presidential Executive Order No. 5, which outlines the inward-looking procedure for planning and execution of projects, and promotion of Nigerian content in contracts, science, engineering and technology. This aims at empowering Nigerian youths, encouraging local professionals and businesses and encouraging local content, among others; Tremendous improvement in the budgetary allocation to the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology;
- The National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) successfully launched Ni-COM Sat III into space;
- You expanded the ministry’s Science Week to “Techno Expo” where Agencies of the ministry showcase their products and services;
- Leading by example, you have inculcated the culture of punctuality in the generality of the ministry’s staff;
- Through your resilience, the agencies under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, such as NITR and NILEST, have contributed immensely to the Presidency’s economic diversification through leather production;
- You brought competitiveness among the ministry’s agencies in the implementation of their core mandates through efficient management of their funds;
- You incorporated the Annual Staff Performance Award in the ministry to motivate staff;
- You created a platform for interaction among the Honourable Minister, Directors General/CEOs of Agencies and Management of the ministry;
- You encouraged Science and Innovation among young Nigerians by pioneering the award of scholarships to outstanding and deserving young scientists;
- The National Policy on Science, Technology and Innovation was reviewed under the able watch of your Ministry;
- Through the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, you directed all Research Institutes under your watch to start implementing the Conditions of Service for Federal Research and Development Agencies, Institutes and Colleges (COS 2019); and
- Your insistence on due process as an official policy in the appointment of Chief Executive Officers for all Research Institutes under your watch. This policy, among others, has reduced the usual bickering, disputes and labour restiveness that characterize the transition of executive power within the sector.
Right from the moment you came into the saddle, the Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions (ASURI) found you to be a very accessible and listening minister and we are so very proud to be associated with you. However, we are not surprised about your favourable disposition to Nigerian Research Fellows because as a Researcher who holds six patents, you surely know where the shoe pinches.
Honourable Minister Sir, all of the above are just some of the factors that have combined to make you the most impactful Minister in charge of Science and technology since independence. And we have no iota of doubt about your qualification for induction into the newly created ASURI HALL OF FAME.