The new Acting Executive Secretary and Chief Executive of NASENI, Mrs. Nonyem Onyechi, assumed office yesterday and immediately announced that she would prioritise the stability of the organisation towards achieving the federal government’s goal of industrialisation.
The first step she took was to hold a consultation meeting with the Four (4) Principal Officers in the Agency comprising the NASENI’s Coordinating Directors at the headquarters. According to her after the meeting and short briefing of the Agency’s media team, the Acting EVC/CE disclosed that the meeting was frank and cordial and that all the Principal Officers agreed to work together as a team to move the Agency to the next level of transformations currently taking place in the organization.
“The stability of the Agency to pursue the industrialization Agenda of the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration remains our priority, said Mrs. Onyechi.
The Acting EVC/CE, who took over from the former EVC-Prof Mohammed Sani Haruna after the latter’s eventful ten years in the saddle pledged her total commitment to promoting NASENI through its activities as one of the most visible legacies of President Buhari to be bequeathed to the next government in Nigeria in May 2023.
President Muhamamdu Buhari according to her had demonstrated much benevolence to the Agency by approving large funding and investments to NASENI to manufacture and fabricate machines and facilitating the technical support needed by the Agency to facilitate Nigeria’s industrialization.
Mrs. Onyechi further stated that NASENI’s Management is poised to take the Agency to a desirable height with growing support from staff and stakeholders and to strengthen its capacity while maintaining its development institutes, productive outfits, and skill acquisition centres across the country.
NASENI has over the years made significant strides in the fabrication of machines and equipment for many sectors of the Nigerian economy, especially in the areas of agriculture, water, industry, transport, defence, and entrepreneurship development. NASENI has manufactured agriculture equipment as well as Research and Development (R&D) outputs that have helped farmers boost their productivity thereby creating more jobs and adding value to the economy.
Mrs. Onyechi holds a Bachelors and Masters of Science degrees in the sciences with a bias in Zoology from the University of Nigeria(UNN), Nsuka, and the University of Lagos respectively. Onyechi is a professional member of the Nigerian Institute of Management and Materials Society of Nigeria. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Consultants(FCIMC) and a Chartered Management Consultant (ChMC). She has Civil Service working experience spanning over 3 decades beginning with the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology and later she moved to NASENI following the establishment of the Agency in 1992. She is a thorough-bred public servant and until her elevation to the office of Acting Executive Vice Chairman, she was the Coordinating Director, Planning Business Development of the Agency.
She is known to be abreast and well-grounded in the development of Science, Technology, and Innovation policies and had demonstrated satisfactory skills and best practices in its formulations and implementations for the NASENI mandate. Mrs. Onyechi also is of proven integrity, transparency, and accountability which earned her the highly coveted NASENI Merit Award as the Best Performing Director in 2018.
NASENI has provided immense support to the defense industry in the country by manufacturing military-grade equipment with superb efficiency including drones used in surveillance and aerial weapons of warfare to fight insecurity in the country. It has also strengthened its cooperation in the area of R&D.
The skill acquisition and training centers of NASENI have proved to be some of the best in capacity building for people with new skills in engineering, science, technology, and innovation as well as boosting artisanal skills for small and medium enterprises across the country. NASENI has also collaborated with a German company ‘Atmosfair’ to produce and distribute thousands of environmentally -friendly Save 80 cooking stoves for women in the states and the FCT. The agency also collaborated with countries such as Jordan, Italy, and Czech Republic to revolutionize agriculture in the country. It has also built capacity for renewable energy by investing in solar plants in parts of the country among other achievements.
The partners of the Agency and international organizations are by this message, assured of a more fruitful collaboration to perpetuate this enduring legacy of President Buhari in his quest to transform Nigeria and make it one of the most industrialized countries in the world.
