ECOWAS SCIENCE COMMUNICATION WORKSHOP OPENS IN ABUJA

By Mawutodzi K. Abissath

A two-day intensive Science Communication Training Workshop, aimed at helping journalists and writers to create awareness about the importance of science and technology in the development of Africa opened yesterday, October 17, Abuja, Nigeria.
The workshop which is being attended by about 35 participants including selected ICT journalists from West Africa, communication educators, science and technology experts, technocrats and others, is under a broad theme: “Making Science and Technology Information More Accessible for Africa’s Development.
Engineer Umar Bindir, Director General, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Nigeria, who delivered the Key Note Address at the ECOWAS Conference Centre noted that the time had come for African scientists to go beyond the traditional way of agric production with hoe and cutlasses and indulge in large and modern plantation cultivation system to feed the continent

Engineer Umar B. Bindir (left) Deliver of Keynote Address at the workshop
Dr. Bindir could not understand why after 50 years of independence, not a single African country could be classified among 100 developed economies of the world, despite resources of the continent. NOTAP Director-General expressed regret when he once sighted a document that cited Bangladesh and Nigeria as the epitome of “poor countries”. He vowed to ensure that Nigeria at attained the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2020. He has propounded a theory of 7777 Development Plan for Nigerian
Dr. Bindir, expects that each seven- year (7) period will see Nigeria achieving specific development strategy.
Mr. Thierry Amoussougbo, Regional Advisor Officer, ICT, Science and Technology Division (ISTD) Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) based in Ethiopia, who is the brain behind the training workshop for journalists, called on African journalists to endeavour to communicate in the language that would help ordinary citizens for the development of the Continent.

Mr. Thierry Amoussougbo, (right) Brain-child of workshop, directing affairs.
Other speakers of the day included Dr. Kyari Mohammed, Scientific Officer, African Union, Commission-STRC, Lagos, Mr. Joseph Ngu, Director of the UNESC, Office, Abuja, Nigeria, Mr. Diran Onifade, Publisher, Africa-STI.com and President, African Federation of Science Journalist for Development.
Others were Dr. Roland Kouakou, Chief Division Science and Technology, ECOWAS, and Dr. Jean-Pierre Ilboudo, Regional Adviser for communication and information, UNESCO, Addis Ababa as was as Dr. Fackson Banda, Programme Specialist, Communication Development Division, Communication and Information Sector, based in Paris, France, who flew in to place his expertise at disposal of the workshop organizers for the benefit of Science Reporters.
The training workshop which formally ends, Tuesday, October 18 being sponsored by the African Union (AU), United Nation Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the Department of Human Resource Science and Technology (HRSTC) of the African Union Commission, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in collaboration with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Nigeria.

Experience From UNESCO’s Reference And Excellence Centers.

Delegates whose portraits appeared on pages 3 & 4 of this article including Niger, Guinea, Burkina-Faso, Senegal and Nigeria briefly up-dated participants about progress and challenges of UNESCO Reference and Excellence Centres in their respective countries.

• Mawutodzi K. Abissath, Bilingual ICT Journalist & Resource Person from Ghana, Reporting from Abuja, Nigeria!