ABUJA, March 20 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian government on Tuesday launched a facility to serve as the hub of modern inventions in the country.

The Technology Orientation Center, conceived by the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure, was established to help the entrepreneurs, researchers, and innovators gain greater access to the necessary processes that would fast-track the commercialization of inventions using indigenous technologies, according to the minister of science and technology, Ogbonnaya Onu.

The official said the new technology hub, situated in the nation's capital of Abuja, will make Nigerians break new frontiers and create new opportunities that will move the west African country away from a resource-based to a knowledge-based and innovation-driven economy.

"If we pay greater attention to innovation and vigorously pursue the conversion of research findings into viable goods and services, we can recreate the middle class, strengthen the Naira (the local currency) and secure a better future for ourselves and generations yet unborn," he added.

Nigerian authorities believe with a lot of natural resources and having the largest market in Africa, Nigeria has the capacity to lead a new initiative that will help diversify its economy in a sustainable manner by encouraging the harnessing and application of indigenous technology.