Major events that shaped science, technology and communications sectors in 2022

Earlier in the then-new year, 2022, the Nigerian Communications Commission confirmed that MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communications Limited had paid $273.6m each for the Fifth Generation spectrum licence.

The Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Umar Danbatta, confirmed the payment in February as the deadline set for the two winners of the spectrum auction elapsed.

The “Provisional winners of the 3.5 Gigahertz spectrum licence, MTN Communications Nigeria Plc and Mafab Communications Limited, have made their full payment of $273.6m each for the 5G Spectrum license to the Nigerian Communications Commission”, Danbatta said via a press statement in February.

Also in the year, the Minister of Science Technology and Innovation (STI), Senator Adeleke Mamora, said despite less funding and other challenges, the ministry made enormous achievements since he took over as minister on July 14, 2022.

The minister said this in Abuja during an interactive session with reporters on the achievements of the ministry in the period under review.

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He also solicited for more funding for Research and Development (R&D) in the country to boost technological advancement.

“Research activities require a lot of funding and there has to be a way to make that funding possible. The African Union (AU) had set up a 2% of GDP for member countries for R&D and the truth is that until and unless we give priority to R&D, it will be difficult for us to get to where we want to be in terms of socio-economic development. We need R&D to move forward,” he said.

Mamora commended President Muhammadu Buhari for committing 0.5% of Nigeria’s GDP to Research and Development which, he said, is an improvement from previous years.

The minister also said as a result of the funding constraints, the ministry had prioritised dropping of wastages and avoiding duplication.

Also, the executive vice chairman/chief executive, National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Prof. Mohammed Sani Haruna, disclosed during the year that the agency’s target is to contribute 50 megawatts of…