NASENI boss restates commitment to presidential priorities for better living

The Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Mr. Khalil Halilu, has charged staff of NASENI to put forward ideas on how the agency can effectively support the priorities of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu such as large-scale switching of petrol and diesel-powered vehicles to alternative fuels to reduce the cost of living for Nigerians.

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He spoke during a briefing session with the managing directors of the agency’s 10 development institutes, situated in Enugu, Minna, Awka, Okene, Nnewi, Kano, Jalingo, Akure, Ilesha and Nasarawa.

“Our institutes are the engines of NASENI’s innovation and these briefings by each Institute are critical as we work together to craft the future of NASENI, as it relates to delivering on the President’s socio-economic agenda, ” said Halilu.

In addition to the managing directors, team leads of various NASENI projects, as well as the agency’s research directors, also made presentations on their various projects and efforts.

The briefings held ahead of the EVC’s planned tour of NASENI facilities across the institutes scheduled to commence in October.

Meanwhile, Halilu inaugurated a committee to look into staff welfare, as part of steps to fulfil his pledge, upon assuming office, to ensure that NASENI becomes “a public sector employer of choice in Nigeria.”

He tasked the committee—made up exclusively of middle-level and junior staff of NASENI—with producing a human resources revamp plan for NASENI.

According to him, “Our junior staff are indeed the ones on the frontlines of our work, bearing the biggest burdens, and therefore deserving of special attention, support and welfare.”

The NASENI boss who also met the Minister of Science and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji, in Abuja said the agency was “keen to jointly commercialize existing research outputs.

Adding that “I have no doubt that NASENI has a strong and committed partner, in the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology.”

Also on Friday, Halilu met with a young Nigerian innovator based in Maiduguri, Borno State, Mustapha Gajibo, who specializes in converting petrol-fired vehicles to use gas and solar energy.

“There’s no limit to what young Nigerians can achieve in science and technology, and at NASENI we want to be a part of these inspiring stories from every corner of the country,” he told Gajibo.