Devt of Drones Should be Key National Security, Economic Growth Priority, Says Expert

Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja

The Managing Director of ARCO Worldwide Services, which pioneered commercial drone operations in Nigeria, Okosubide Mozimo, has disclosed that the development of drones had become critical for national security, stability, and economic growth.
Mozimo, an engineer, stated this at the weekend during a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) ceremony between his company, and a federal government agency–National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM), in Abuja.
The MoU activates a partnership which is designed to foster the development of the drone technology in the country, and train young Nigerians in all areas of the technology.
This includes production and piloting in several sectors such as security, agriculture, oil and gas, medicine and infrastructure management, among others
The MoU also encompasees collaborations, innovation and capacity-building for use in drone operations and maintenance, research and development in technology as well as supporting economic growth for the country through technological advancement.
The MoU was signed by Mozimo on behalf of his company, while the Director-General of NACETEM, Dr. Olushola Odusanya, signed on behalf of the federal government agency.
Speaking on the deal, Mozimo said, “We at ARCO Worldwide Services Limited, are excited at this opportunity to partner with NACETEM, a leading federal government agency that is driving innovation, technology advancement, and capacity building.
“This aligns with our key vision, delivering technology for economic growth and advancement in the country. So, I believe that through the MoU, we are going to deliver a number of things.
“One of them would be to enhance drone technology development in key sectors like agriculture, defence, oil and gas, security, logistics, medicals, infrastructure development, maritime and mapping.”
Drones, he noted, have become very important and applicable in many areas and have become a major job creating innovation.
According to him, the on-going war between the United States of America, Israel and Iran has clearly demonstrated how critical drones have become in modern warfare, adding that Nigeria could not afford to ignore the technology.
“If you look at the war going on between America, Israel and Iran, if you look at 70 per cent of the equipment used, they have been drones, and they have been able to achieve very good results. And even from Iran to Israel and all the places they have attacked, drones have been put to use.
“So, I think Nigeria will need to catch up with the rest of the world. This MoU gives us a good opportunity to be able to develop capacity in the country that will see us compete with other nations across the world,” he said.
On ARCO’s drone pioneering role, Mozimo disclosed that the company pioneered commercial drone operations in Nigeria in 2016, and has maintained a leading position of drone technology, providing services for oil and gas, and the military, as well as, the training of drone pilots in the country.
He added that through the training academy, ARCO has effectively addressed the heavy capital flight associated with the training of drone pilots in foreign countries.
“But the partnership with NACETEM is a very big one for us. I think with this, we can go places. We can touch lives. And I can’t thank the DG enough for driving this,” he said.
He also highlighted the importance of drones in elections, noting: “We all know how elections go. We believe with drones, we can do quite a lot. We see people being kidnapped every day.
“What happens when they’re kidnapped? Nothing happens. With drones, you can address that as well. If you mount drones on Abuja-Kaduna, Lagos-Ibadan and other key expressways, even if people are kidnapped, you can rescue them within a short time because you’ll be able to see enemy positions.
“And then if there’s any security threat, you can send a response force, just like they do in oil and gas. So then the benefits are enormous. I can’t count them.”
On his part, the Director-General of NACETEM, Dr. Olushola Odusanya said his organisation was prepared to see innovations in science and technology translate into tangible commercial products in the country and therefore impact on the Nigerian economy.
Ollisanya stated: “Why don’t Science and Technology Innovations translate into commercial products? That has been a boring question. We believe, like everyone else, that innovation has to build commercial products which will become part of the social economy.
“Innovation thrives only when ecosystems have been built, and those ecosystems should use commercial products. The question, therefore, becomes, how come, despite all these investments, our recurrent expenditure, how come we are not getting the impact that other countries of the world have felt, and breaking it down into such simple terms, NACETEM is the agency whose function is to look at these.
“We provide data for policies in the area of science, technology, innovation. We are supposed to do research and come out with analysis that will help the government make appropriate policy decisions.
“So, we look at the data, and we therefore are the think tank for government, and our function is simply to think based on data that is available to us. So we look at data in all ramifications that have to do with science, technology and innovation.
“And where that data points us to is when it now leads us to policy advisory and when you look at the policy cycle, you see that there are instances where there is policy disharmony, and sometimes you find policy somersaults as people describe, but our duty is to constantly bring about the fine niceties that bring the policies together.”
The NACETEM chief executive observed that new technologies around Artificial Intelligence (AI), and ICT have been throwing up new opportunities, adding that the MoU with ARCO was an example of how new technologies could be utilised to the advantage of the Nigerian economy.