Dr Felix Ale is the Director of Media and Corporate Communication at the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) Abuja. In this exclusive interview with Weekend Hope, the Oka-Akoko, Ondo State born Space Science and Technology Journalist speaks about the immense benefits of space science and technology to nation building, the several achievements of NASRDA and the agency’s plan to partner Ondo State Government in its ongoing development efforts, among other sundry issues. Excerpts:
I would like you to appraise in form of a summary, the activities of NASRDA since inception, and in the process tell us how it has made impact on Nigerian airspace technology.
As you are aware, the National Space Research and Development Agency was established as a vehicle for the utilisation of space science and technology for the socio-economic development of our great country.
Since the establishment of this agency, a lot has been done through the application of space technology for the socio-economic development of our great country. When you talk of agriculture, a lot has been achieved in that sector. When you talk of communication, a lot has been achieved in that sector.
When you talk of education, talk of anything because the fastest way to guarantee or ensure development in any part of the world today is through the application of space science and technology. And People ask, what is the benefit of space science and technology?
We are here now. From here, right here, you can communicate anywhere in the world.
You can communicate any part of the globe through telephone. You should remember that this telephone is using the communication satellite in the orbit. Without that satellite, this telephone cannot be used.
From here, we can organise what we call teleconferencing. Real time interaction will be experienced. Real time interaction will be witnessed.
In the past, for example, if you are going to open up a new route between Ondo and Lagos State, it takes years to get the feasibility studies ready. But with the application of space science and technology now, all you need to do is to get the map, the data of this area, this particular location and within a day or two, you get everything done.
So NASRDA has been able to comprehensively map Nigeria, and there is nothing you want today about this country that you cannot get at your fingertips.
In the past, it wasn’t like that. And again, when you talk of resource invention, it has to do with security. It’s a security issue.
When you have your own space organisation, being able to achieve all these and you will be able to access them at your own will without going to other countries, which means you have been able to minimise a lot of things. And then the issue of security we are talking about, NASRDA succeeded in mapping out the Sambisa Forest several years ago. And some of the successes being recorded by our security agencies were due to the data we are making available today.
Because we work in collaboration with the military, some of these details cannot be discussed publicly because they are security issues. And we have what we call Defence Space Administration, DSA, which is the military arm of the space agency. So we work together.
We advocated for the establishment of that particular arm of the space agency to anchor everything that has to do with the military. And we are working together, working successfully. So many things and we make a lot of maps and satellite data available to universities for research at no cost to the various universities, various institutions. And don’t forget, when the Hurricane Katrina happened in the United States of America, NASRDA, our satellite, the Nigerian Satellite 1, was the only satellite in that corridor. And at the end of the day, the first satellite data made available during that disaster came from NASRDA.
And it was even acknowledged internationally. And we operate the full breadth of the space programme. We are the only agency in Africa that is operating the full breadth of space science and technology because space is all-encompassing.
And that is why we have various centres across the country, particularly in the various geo-political zones of Nigeria. And apart from the various centres, we also have laboratories where we are able to take care of the specific interests and needs of our people and our country as well. We have the Centre for Geodesy and Geodynamics that is monitoring the issue of earthquakes because there are a lot of activities happening in this part of the world.
So, we need to start mapping out strategies so that we would be able to mitigate the effects of such disasters and also monitor to know which areas are prone to such disasters. There are so many things we are doing and so many things we have done in the area of research. As of today, Nigeria is a country that is respected in the area of space science and technology.
As of today, Nigeria is taking the lead in Africa in view of the various things we have been able to do, in view of achievements and in view of the success story. As I always say, the space programme in Nigeria is a new song to strategically position Africa as a relevant continent in global affairs.
All these achievements you have listed, did you get them done with indigenous aeronautic experts or you got machinery from outside the country?
When we started a programme we told Nigerians and indeed the world, that we are not just going to space programme to just have collaboration with the advanced world. We want to also use that opportunity to develop the indigenous capacities in our country. And I want to tell you that the Nigerians at X, which was the second satellite launched by Nigeria, was solely designed and built to fly standard by Nigerian engineers themselves using the facilities of our technical partners in the United Kingdom.
That is Sori Satellite Technology Limited, SSTL in UK. We used their facilities to design that satellite. It was meant to be an experimental satellite and that was why we called it Nigerians at X. It was successfully designed, built to fly standard by Nigerian engineers themselves.
And it was launched successfully alongside Nigerians at X in Russia. And I can tell you that satellite has been able to perform very well in the orbit. And we have been able to collect a lot of data through that satellite.
So, I can tell you that the Nigerian space programme is a success story, not only for Nigeria but for Africa as a continent. And we keep on developing capacities. A lot of our personnel, a lot of our staff were trained in different universities across the globe.
And we have a lot of experts in different strategic areas of space science and technology. So, whatever we are doing in NASRDA today, we are using indigenous capacity. But don’t forget technology is evolving.
And I can tell you confidently today, that the crop of intelligence we have in the space agency can be compared with what is obtainable anywhere in the world, even in the United States of America. And a lot of our engineers are excelling in different fields, different areas. We have had joint collaborations with many organisations.
What have been your major achievements since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took over power and became president. And then what are your projections for the year 2026?
Thank you very much. Let me seize this opportunity to appreciate President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, because his coming on board has been able to inject a lot of ideas, developments and strategies in the space agency.
I will tell you confidently that since after Obasanjo, the only president that has given the space sector the desired attention is President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. And if you are aware, recently he approved four satellites for the space agency, which we are working on. He approved three Earth Observation Satellites and also a very important satellite called Synthetic Aperture Radar.
And you know most times, Nigeria is always covered with cloud. For example, if you are flying from Abuja or even from Akure to Lagos, hardly can you see the surface from the space. Everywhere will be covered with cloud.
The Synthetic Aperture Radar can penetrate the cloud and get clear pictures both day and night. So, he has been able to approve this satellite for us and that will be the first of its kind in Africa. We are working on this satellite and I can assure you that it will be launched during his tenure.
There are so many things he has been able to do for us. And again, when he came, he was able to effect some changes in the leadership structure of the space agency. The current leadership we have in the space agency under Dr. Olumide Adepoju has been able to inject a lot of developments in the space agency.
And as I said, we are working assiduously towards the launch of this satellite. And in the current year, there are so many things we have in the pipeline.
One, to complement the efforts of government in tackling this issue of insecurity. There are so many things on the drawing board now that we are doing to effectively utilise space science and technology, to ensure that we are able to bring this to a level that at least, even the international community will appreciate the efforts Nigeria is making in that regard. We are also making efforts to ensure the proper mapping of the country so that we have what we call the resource inventory of the nation.
So how robust is your partnership with relevant agencies in the US and the UK?
We have good relationship with various space organisations across the globe. We have relationship with NASA in the US. We have relationship with European Space Agency.
We have relationship with China Space Agency, China Space Academy. We have relationship with Canada Space Agency. There is even a strategic organisation in Canada that has been of great benefit to the space agency.
Across the globe, we have relationship with leading space agencies. And even in Africa, where we are also taking the lead, we also have relationship with quite a number of countries because whatever we are doing, we believe that it should be for the benefit of the continent. So, if we are able to partner with Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, so many things will be done to secure our continent.
So, many things will be done to fast-track development in the continent. So NASRDA, we are not just only focusing on Nigeria, we are also focusing to strategically play our role as the leader of the continent. So, we have robust relationship with all our partners across the globe and we have robust relationship with all the space agencies in Africa.
And coming back home to Nigeria, NASRDA is a strategic organisation that has relevance in all ministries and agencies of government. So, that is why our relationship cuts across various ministries and agencies. And we are also working with state governments, too.
Even right now, we sent a letter to His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Ondo State, trying to look at what we can do to support his development agenda because I can see him making a lot of efforts here in Ondo State. We believe that we should be able to identify strategic areas we can be of immense benefit to his administration. We have done it successfully in Imo State, we have done it in Kogi, we are opening opportunities in other states and there are so many other states that have benefited in the past. Ondo State will not be an exception.
I want to ask, sir, is it within your purview to regulate the use of tracker drones in Nigeria, because already, some state government administrations have been buying drones to curtail insecurity. But these criminals too have also been buying drones to counter-track government security agencies and to destroy their efforts and keep terrorising the country. Does the NASRDA regulate the use of drones in Nigeria?
Right now we are not regulating, but we have a particular centre called Ulman aerial vehicle that their responsibility is in the area of the utilisation of drones, producing, manufacturing drones and utilising it for the security architecture of our country. Ulman aerial vehicle is situated in Nguru in Enugu State.
We are doing everything humanly possible to ensure that we improve activities in that particular centre so that its benefits will cut across various states. To the extent that we can deactivate certain drones that are illegal. We are working on that right now and I believe in the current year we should be able to come up with a position and how it can make a lot of impact in this particular area. A lot of states are going into getting drones to combat insecurity. So, we believe that there are so many things we can do to partner with such states that are interested so that everything will be done professionally and in turn with the rule of law.
From what you have said so far, I realise that some of your activities are capital intensive, virtually all are capital intensive. In terms of funding, how self-sufficient as it were is your agency?
Talking about space programme, it’s highly capital intensive. If there is any challenges in the past, it has been in this particular area. But as I said, we appreciate President Tinubu, that despite various challenges here and there, the President’s administration has been able to give NASRDA a kind of attention. You know how much it costs to launch a satellite.
For him to have magnanimously approved a satellite for us, we know and see that he is very much interested in the development of that sector and very much interested in the development of this country. Because there is no nation that can develop today without attention to space programme.
I am saying it emphatically. So I can assure you that with the support we are receiving from the Federal Government, we are overcoming that particular challenge. By the grace of God, when we finish the launch of the first satellite, it will not only add value to what we are doing, it will be of great benefit to us as a nation.
I don’t want to say in a lighter mood, but I just want to ask, when is Nigeria going to the moon?
Yeah, it is part of our programme. Not only going to the moon, but go to the space. And right now, we are having a collaboration with an organisation in the U.S. called CERA.
And we are going to produce the first astronauts through that collaboration because they will create a slot for us. We will have somebody that will be part of the team and we’ll go there and then perform some experiments. And we are not just going there for jamboree because there are some peculiar situations about this country that we want to go to that environment where we have zero gravity to carry out the experiment. How can this problem be tackled?
For example, the issue of malaria is very common in this part of the world. So, we want to look at that. How effectively can this be tackled? And there are other challenges we are facing in this part of the world that are not peculiar to people in Europe or in America.
There are diseases, even a sickle cell anemia, you know, peculiar to our people here. So we carry out this research. What I’m trying to say in essence is that we are not just, you know, nursing the ambition of having an astronaut for fun.
We want an astronaut that will go into the orbit and carry out experiments that will be of benefit to our people. And when the person comes back, you’ll be able to tell them, yes, they can now use the results of the experiment for the overall benefit of Nigerians. And that is exactly what we are working on and I can assure you that will be achieved.
You are the first African to bag a PhD in space journalism. How have you been able to impact this journalism practice in Nigeria, your own country?
Like I always tell my colleagues that the space programme we are talking today, the projection was done by the media.
It all started when the Soviet, I mean Russia in the old Soviet Union, was having a crisis with America.
And they were using various applications in the space, you know, to engage in this unheard rivalry. While the unheard rivalry was on, some journalists were busy projecting the strategy they were using for this war. And that gave rise to the idea of space science and technology.
So, when you talk of space science and technology, it was pioneered by the press, by journalists. For me, the press, the media remains an integral part of this particular strategic area. And that motivated my interest to now go into research at my PhD level.
And fortunately, I became the first person to research into new media and space journalism in Africa. And I’ve been able to encourage a lot of my colleagues, journalists, not only here, not only in Nigeria, but across the continent. I’ve delivered lectures in different parts of the continent and in different parts of the globe.
And let me tell you, some of the books I’ve even read on space science and technology, they were written by journalists. Some of the books that have documented milestones in the area of space science and technology, they were written by journalists and even historians. So it’s not a difficult area.
It’s a field that we should all feel proud to belong. I’ve been able to, in the course of delivering my lectures all over the place, demystify space science and technology to the level of understanding of the other environment. So I’ve been able to encourage myself, and that was even the reason why, as I told you, when Ebenezer called me, I was in Strasbourg and I told him, yes, I’ll be here. So anywhere I’m invited by my colleagues, I make sure I’m available there. And anywhere I have opportunity of giving lectures or telling the success story of the space programme and also the involvement of the media, I’m always glad to see.
I will continue to do my best, and I can assure you that there are so many things involving the area of space sector, and the media will not be left behind.
Some people don’t know this and with what you have been saying, sir, we want you to advise others who want to further more in their journalism career and others out there?
My advice to our colleagues is to remain dedicated and always uphold the ethics of the profession. I’m not a scientist or engineer but when am talking about space science and technology today, people ask me may be I hide my credential in that area.
The only lecture that was recently organised on social media and its impact on human society in Canada was delivered by me. And I was able to, I was talking engineering, talking science.
I remember one of my colleagues from Italy was asking me if probably I had a degree in engineering that I didn’t want to disclose, I don’t. But you see the benefit you have as a journalist is that, I remember in those days when I started in OSRC , when you are asked to go and cover something on education, you don’t need to ask if you have any background in that area. Or they ask you to go and cover something, a programme or a report in the health sector. I remember that time we would go to Oluwa Glass and do reports.
So, all these exposure already created that platform for you to successfully run your race. So, there is nothing, all you need is just to kind of, make up your mind that you want to achieve these. I don’t believe it is difficult for any of our colleagues that want to key in into this particular sector.
My background as a journalist prepared me to perform effectively.