FG Promises to Boost Aerospace Manpower Training Centre.

Minister of State for Works, Adedapo Adeyeye

Minister of State for Works, Adedapo Adeyeye, has promised that the federal government would give the Regional Centre for Training in Aerospace Surveys (RECTAS) all the necessary support to make it a centre of excellence.

Adeyeye spoke when the Executive Director of the of the Centre, Dr. Adewale Akingbade, led a delegation of the institution to acquaint the minister with the activities of the centre which, he said, is capable of providing data from space that can help improve the security and general development of the country.

Established in 1972 under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, RECTAS, located at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, is an educational one-stop solution institution that TRAINS highly skilled manpower in geospatial information science and technology, and its applications.

Adeyeye pledged to personally visit the centre, which is under the Federal Ministry of Works, after the general elections because of its immense importance to the security and general development of the country.

“After the elections, I will visit the centre because it is a very important one as far as the security and development of Nigeria are concerned… We will do whatever is in our power to strengthen your agency and provide adequate resources for it to become a centre of excellence. No doubt, we have the manpower to ensure that you rank among the best in the world.

Earlier, the Executive Director of the of the RECTAS, Dr. Adewale Akingbade,
explained that the establishment is an inter-governmental joint institution for Africa and that its membership is open to all African nations.

At present, however, the eight member-countries are Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal.

Akingbade acknowledged that a lot of infrastructural development had taken place in this country, courtesy the Federal Ministry of Works, and thanked President Goodluck Jonathan for making it possible and for supporting his centre, RECTAS.

Throwing light on how it operates, he said the centre collects spatial data from space, arranges them and disseminates them to relevant end-users.

In particular, he said geo-informatics for security is another area of their specialisation, which can benefit Nigeria and all other member-countries.

He appealed for continued assistance from the Nigerian government while inviting the Minister of State for Works to visit his institution to acquaint himself with their activities.

THISDAY