An angered Deputy Senate Majority Leader and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology, Ajayi Boroffice questions the sanity behind the Nigerian Space Agency employing graduates of Religious Studies and other unrelated courses instead of employing scientists and engineers. 
Sen. Ajayi Boroffice expressed his displeasure at the type of workforce at the NSA during the annual national space dialogue/media conference on space science and technology on Friday, December 4. He said the agency needs to be sanitized as such actions is nothing but misemployment considering the fact that the support staff of the agency constitutes about 80 per cent of the workforce. He also alleged that he has heard that people pay somewhat between N2m to N2.5 million so as to secure employment at the agency.
“How can you be taking people with religious studies in space centre? It is misemployment when the support staff that constitute about 80 per cent are the workforce. It is wrong. We need experience. We need scientists to constitute about 70% per cent of the workforce but the reverse is the case.
I learnt that the ICPC is around, scrutinising employment documents, I heard employment is earned with N2 million, N2.5 million. It is sad.
We have to reexamine ourselves. We have to sanitise the space agency so that we can achieve the purpose of nation itself.”Prof Ajayi Boroffice said
Responding to the allegation by Sen Ajayi Boroffice, the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, said the government is determined to correct the mistakes made.
“I want to assure you that this administration is very interested and this minister here is a big champion for space science and technology, and we will continue to do the best we can.
I will like to assure the deputy majority leader of the Senate that we agree with you about the mistakes that were made here.
They are also mistakes that you can find in government institutions. But we are determined to correct those mistakes and we are taking the neccesary steps to make sure they are corrected.”he said
Photo Credit: Getty
