Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has claimed that Nigeria is one of the first countries to develop cheaper and faster COVID-19 test kits.
Osinbajo said on Tuesday in Abuja that such kits would enable testing to be carried out in places experiencing kit shortages.
The vice president, who was represented by the Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr. Adeola Ipaye, said this in Abuja at the opening of i-FAIR Israel-Nigeria 2020/21 Innovation Programme, scheduled to hold between Tuesday and Thursday.
It has the theme: “Transforming Ideas into Invention”.
The centre was created to provide a platform for Nigerian innovators to use in channelling their creativity into smart solutions, products and prototypes.
He said President Muhammadu Buhari promptly established the Economy Sustainability Plan (ESP) the moment the Nigerian economy took a massive but predictable hit.
“We have been able to disburse three role support funds to more than a hundred thousand beneficiaries.
“We have also concluded arrangement to deliver electric power via solar home system to more than five million households currently connected to the national grid.
“These projects are set to impact 25 million Nigerians.
“Also, the Economy Sustainability Plan is focusing on securing digital identity covering for millions of Nigerians,” Osinbajo said.
The vice president explained that no one could have predicted what the 2020 had in store, stressing that the year turned out to be a year of innovation, thinking outside the box and creating solutions.
He added that such efforts had become the only route to the survival of the human race.
“Throughout the world and in diverse areas ranging from contactless deliveries of food and supplies, software for infection-tracking and contact-tracing, to the most rapid but safe vaccine research and production, the efforts of science and creativity to hush the pandemic, have simply been a lifesaver in the true sense.
“This is what makes this year’s i-FAIR Innovation programme between Israel and Nigeria extra special,’’ he said.
Osinbajo said the advent of COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the diversification of creativity in the science and technology sector.
He, however, observed that Nigerians had shown that they “have what it takes” to stay afloat in difficult times.
According to him, within a few months, Nigerians have been able to activate testing laboratories in each of the 36 states of the federation.
