The Group

Owerri, April 24 2009

There is a day when a project stops being an idea and becomes a tangible reality - such a day was April 24 in Owerri, Nigeria, when the country's first Science Festival opened, backed by funding and support from Finmeccanica.

To understand the importance of the event, we should point out that the Owerri Science Festival is unprecedented in the history of this African country. Far from being a one-off event, it marks the start of a project to build a centre for teaching and spreading scientific knowledge - the Assumpta Science Centre - which is intended to be a permanent structure for professional and technical training throughout the area.

The centre is located in the Nigerian state of Imo, which has seven universities with more than 100,000 students, and no less than 4,000 primary and secondary schools, showing the efforts that this African country is making to ensure schooling for young people.

The opening ceremony for the festival was preceded by a mass in the Assunta catholic cathedral celebrated by the metropolitan archbishop of the Owerri diocese Antony J. V. Obinna. Participants included the president of the Assumpta Science Centre Association, Don Anyadike Tobechi; the president of ECSITE (European Network of Science Centres and Museums) and executive committee member of the Foundation IDIS-Science City in Naples, Vincenzo Lipardi; the State education commissioner for Owerri, Jude Njoku; and Finmeccanica's coordinator of cultural and social activities, Riccardo Rovere.

During the ceremony, the speeches highlighted the importance of this new scientific project and the benefits it will bring to the whole area. On the following day (until May 2), the conference programme focused on various scientific disciplines and their application to technical education through responsible use of technology while respecting the environment. At the same time, a hands-on display area with about thirty stands gave young people and adults the chance to find out more about the practical applications of scientific innovation, through experiments and simulations of varying degrees of complexity enabling all visitors to take part.

The apparatus and instruments used for the festival will subsequently become part of the permanent equipment for the Science Centre, to be built in the coming months at Owerri, with the backing of Finmeccanica and IDIS.

Finmeccanica's activities in Owerri - part of the Mwana Simba charity initiative with other projects in Cameroon and the Congo - is particularly rewarding since the Science Centre is a tangible example of what innovation can do to improve social and economic conditions, by highlighting scientific knowledge as a cultural boon for progress, helping the needy, and enabling young people to build their futures.