Abeokuta — The Federal Government has been urged to fund research and sponsor programmes in the area of space research for the benefit of the country.

Addressing participants drawn from some universities in Nigeria at a symposium and workshop on space weather and space-based technologies held in Ota, Ogun State, the Vice-Chancellor of Bells University of Technology,Ota, Prof. Isaac Adeyemi said both private and public sectors should fund research.

Adeyemi who explained the rationale behind the hosting of the workshop said the vision of the university was to discover, disseminate and apply the knowledge of science and engineering for human well-being and the development of the society.

According to the VC, the benefits of space and weather research are enormous and cannot be quantified. For example, Global Positioning System, GPS, is known to be an offshoot of space, weather research and technology.

"The government and private sector should fund research and sponsor programmes for students who are working in the area of space research and implement research works.

"They should sponsor research through scholarchip to individuals who are researching for knowledge that is useful to the country.