The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu made this known when a team from the Academy visited him in Abuja.

He said: “Once the budget is approved, we will be in a position to give you a grant that can be used to promote research projects toward national development.

The Academy will determine the kind of research it will carry out but it is good to start small as the grant may not be huge though it can get better,” he added.

The minister who described the Academy as “a storehouse of the best brains in the nation told the team that the ministry would strengthen its relationship with it for enhanced research and development in the country.

Earlier, the President of NAS, Professor Oyewale Tomori, had commended the minister for the achievements he had so far recorded as minister.