Nigeria’s space program failed as 60% of N101.744 billion received in three years used to pay salaries

Despite gulping N101.744 billion in three years (2021 to 2023), the country’s space programme has failed to send an unmanned mission to space, a target it set for itself by 2022, with indications that it may also miss the plan of sending manned mission to space by 2030.

Further breakdown indicates that the Nigeria Space Programme has failed to meet over 70 per cent of its mission and vision. The programme has also failed to launch satellites into space as promised by the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (FMSTI) and the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA).

Former Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Ogbonnaya Onu, had famously promised Nigerians in 2016 that Nigeria would have an astronaut in space on or before 2030, a mission that is bound to remain unaccomplished.

   

The Guardian investigation showed that more than 60 per cent of the yearly budget for NARSDA and its affiliate agencies are used for paying salaries with little or nothing left for capital projects. Figures from the Budget Office showed that after a special intervention in 2021 by former President, Muhammadu Buhari, the budget for NARSDA increased by 450 per cent in one year.

Meanwhile, India became the first nation to land a rocket on the moon’s south pole on Thursday 23rd August, 2023. The 4th in the world to land anywhere on the moon after US, Russia and China. The project cost India $75m (N56bn)

Peoplesmind