By Isaiah Eka

Dr Matthew Adepoju, Director General, National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), says opportunities abound for wealth creation in the space sector to aid youth employment.

Adepoju said this on Friday while speaking with newsmen on the sidelines of the 2025 National Space Research and Development Agency top management retreat in Uyo.

He said the agency had concluded plans to train 200,000 youths with skills acquisition to catch up with opportunities in the space sector.

The DG said to achieve this, NASRDA would build skills acquisition centres across the six geopolitical zones of the country, where the youths could be trained in different skills.

“We are introducing some skills acquisition for youth employment because we have observed that they need skills; wherever you have problems, that is potential money, that is potential jobs, that is opportunities.

“But when you don’t have the skills to tackle the problems and turn the situation to wealth creation, that’s why we brought up skills acquisition hub which is taking off soon.

“The first one out of the six of the regional centres will be completed and be commissioned this year, where we can train up to 200,000 youths every year in every region.

“So, we believe all these things are going to contribute to the economy of the country and solve the problems of youth unemployment,” Adepoju said.

Adepoju added that NASRDA would also, within the next one year, launch two new satellites into space to replace the old one launched since 2011.

He said that the country had secured a seat in the blue region to ensure the launch becomes a reality as process of selection was ongoing of the Nigerian that would benefit from the initiative.

According to him, the initiative would be in collaboration with Space Exploration and Research Agency (SERA) in USA.

“In the next six months to one year, definitely NASRDA will launch at least two out of the four satellites into the orbit.

“Then the programme of the first Nigeria, first African to be in space would have been a reality too, because we have already secured the seat in the blue origin.

“So, we are in the process of selection of the Nigerian that will be the beneficiary of this initiative. It is a collaboration between NASRDA and SERA in USA,” he said.

The director general further said that President Bola Tinubu had approved the take off grant for the space regulations and spectrum management in Nigeria.

He said that lack of space regulations had been the reason many of the telecommunications companies operating in the country were rendering poor services to Nigerians.

“Many of the services rendered to us in Nigeria are substandard.

“Let’s look at direct to home television, even telephone, you are in the middle of telephone everything is dropping, is because of the transponder they are using.

“I was really disappointed in the room while I was listening to the President’s acceptance speech and because it was cloudy and about to rain, everything went off the screen.

“It is because nobody is regulating the space sector which is the function of NASRDA both the upstream, midstream and downstream,” he said.

Adepoju noted the space sector was now the biggest economy in the whole world, adding that private sector should get involved to grow the economy, create jobs and tackle insecurity.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the retreat’s theme is: “NASRDA Beyond the Horizon: Building a Resilient Workforce for Space Economy and National Security.” (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Ifeyinwa Okonkwo