Peeping at the Nigerian Research and Development Centres: Perfecting Agricultural Machineries in AMT-P, Jalingo

Peeping at the Nigerian Research and Development Centres: Perfecting Agricultural Machineries in AMT-P, Jalingo

Nigeria is blessed with uncountable number of research and development centres. In the field of Agriculture alone, there are 18 National Agricultural Research Institutes under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development, several other research Institutes and centres under Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, Federal Ministry of Education, Sports, etc. These centres do not include those created by some states and those under universities and polytechnics. Virtually, each of the first and second generation universities nationwide has at least one or two research centres aimed at development of one aspect of technology or the other to address the developmental challenges of our motherland, Nigeria. Some are working in partnership with other organizations within and outside the country. Some of these research centres have achieved amazing breakthroughs with fantastic results that could take this country out of the woods. Unfortunately, the nation has given little or no attention to such research results making them to end up in archives or on shelf. This column intends to regularly peep at the activities of such centres, dig out their achievements and challenges. It is my hope that those responsible for doing the needful will swing to action and make this country attain its desired position in technological breakthrough sooner than later.

It is based on this premise that some marvellous achievements at the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Programme, (AMT-P), Jalingo attracted my attention.  AMT-P was established in 2010, located in Jalingo, Taraba State. It is one of the centres of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), an Agency of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology. Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) is a modern method of production incorporating highly automated and sophisticated computerized design and operational systems. AMT aims at manufacturing high quality products at low cost within the shortest delivery time. This means that the overall objective of AMT is to create wealth in Nigeria through technical support to the manufacturing industry. The wealth generation from AMT might come from increase of industrial productivity to reduce importation of goods, equipment, raw materials and services resulting to increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Gross National Income per capita (GNI), and reduction in the fleeing of foreign exchange. Wealth can also be generated through AMT support by increasing export of goods, equipment, raw materials and services that might generate foreign exchange for the nation, in addition to generation of value added employments with the capacity for living wages.

AMT-P Jalingo has the mandate of “Sourcing, Acquisition, Development and Application of Advanced Manufacturing Technologies for the production of components, machinery and their production systems and transfer of same to satellite industries”. It adopts advanced manufacturing technology as a manufacturing process with a modern method of production incorporating highly automated and sophisticated computerized design and operational systems aimed at manufacturing high quality products at low cost within the shortest possible delivery time. The programme entails skills acquisition, training on various aspects of foundry, welding and machine fabrication. The centre is headed by Engr. Professor Mohammed Dauda, a seasoned engineer as the Managing Director/Chief Executive of the centre with a team of seasoned engineers in all spheres of engineering technology and a pool of well trained staff in various aspects of science and technology, especially, manufacturing of technologies including agro-based processing machines geared toward improving farming and related activities.

In the six years of AMT-P existence, the centre has designed and fabricated a number of agro-based machines along the values chain of the major agricultural commodities. Surprisingly, many of these manufactured machines are duly patented, which is a feat some similar centres have not been able to achieve. Some of the recorded achievements are

1. AMT-P Magami Multi Grain Thresher (MMGT) – manual threshing of grains is a tedious and time consuming post harvest operation with tendency of loosing significant grain. AMTP has designed and fabricated multi grain thresher called AMT-P Magami. This machine is used for the separation of grains from the dried maize; millet and guinea corn. The machines are in various models and capacities. The threshing capacity of Magami model is 500kg/hr with physical Dimensions of 2200 x 1650 x 2100mm, weighting 220kg and a threshing efficiency of 90 %. The MMGT has three different sizes of interchangeable sieves

a.    Sieve with aperture diameter of 15mm for maize and related grain size.

b.    Sieve with aperture diameter of 6mm is for guinea corn and related grain size.

c.    Sieve with aperture diameter of 3mm is for millet and related grain size.

2. Fish Dryers or Kiln; fish drying is another time consuming operation after successful fish catch.  AMTP produced two models of fish dryers based on weight and capacities. There are 50 kg and 20kg models. Fish dryer is a device for drying and roasting fish. The 50 kg fish dryer can dry fish within a time span of three hours, thirty minutes using 4kg maximum of dried lump charcoal while for roasting, it takes one hour, thirty minutes. This model is for an outdoor usage for of its size, it can also be placed in the fish farm for easy processing. The capacity of the dryer is 500 kg per drying with physical dimensions of 1035 x 1420 x 1150 mm, weighting 120 kg and drying and roasting efficiency of75%. The 20 kg JE Fish dryer model is a 3-in-1 functional device also for roasting and or drying fresh fish. This capacity can dry fish in three hours, thirty minutes (3hrs. 30mins.) using 5kg maximum of dried lump charcoal while for roasting, it takes one hour, thirty minutes (1hr. 30mins.). This is usually used for indoor by individuals, hotels and eateries. The three major units of both dryers are, the Power heating unit, the grilling unit and warm storage units. The Capacity of the 200 kg per drying, physical dimensions is 1380 x 720 x 980 mm, weighting 140 kg with average drying/roasting efficiency of 75.69%

3. AMT-P Rice Thresher is another machine that was perfected by AMTP, Jalingo. Rice threshing is one operation that requires strong young men to do often with a lot of grain loss (as much as 30 % of the produce) and tendency of stones contamination.  In fact, local rice is heavily objected by many house wives because of the stones commonly found in rice as a result threshing and drying. AMTP has developed rice thresher to address the problem. The machine is used for the separation of rice grain from dried paddy. The machine can conveniently process all varieties of rice. It has threshing capacity of 800kg/hr, weighting 170kg with threshing efficiency of 93 %

In the manufacturing of all of these machines, the centre has achieved an improved efficiency. However, apart from improved efficiency as a result of strict adherence to engineering principles during design and throughout product development circle, the technology is safe and targeted at the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to take over. The quality and performance of the products is not negotiable and there is good finishing that provides attractive aesthetics to the end users and it also stands them out among other similar products. To ensure that the user(s) have no problem in the operation of the machines, all products are accompanied with user’s guide as well as servicing and maintenance tools. The engineering skills and craftsmanship imputed in the product distinguished AMT-P products from other; this distinguishing factor made AMT-P do patenting for all its products and, therefore, are ready to be ceded to SMEs. The ceding of products to SMEs is the whole essence of the NASENI mandate; therefore, entrepreneurs are to take advantage of the availability and higher performance of these machines by AMT-P as the centre has promised to always be available to assist in fixing the machine(s) any time there is a problem.

There is no doubt that these machines are also being manufactured by roadside craftsmen and technicians of other research centres, however, the outstanding feature of AMTP products is an excellent finishing that has impressed many Nigerians as shown in the pictures. This why the governor of Taraba state, Mr Dickson Ishaku requested for the supply of 10 rice threshers and 30 fish dryers during his visit to the centre.

In conclusion, it is hoped that SME and other relevant industries will take advantage of these perfected technologies for commercial production. Nigeria is tired of importing readymade machineries when we have huge potential for producing them here.

Link for the Newspaper version of the article

Nigerian born Inventors, their Inventions, Challenges and Opportunities V

Nigerian born Inventors, their Inventions, Challenges and Opportunities V

As stated in the previous parts of this article, list of Nigerian inventors  and their inventions can never be exhaustive. This is rather obvious for a huge and diverse country  like Nigeria. Necessity makes people to think deeply on how to address their problems, constraints  and threats against their living condition. Necessity is the major factor making Nigeria to churn out inventors in multitude. Invention is about coming up with a great idea, about turning the idea into a product, about making the product workable and making people to be aware about the workable product. That the product should not only be acceptable by the people but should be sellable to recoup the cost of putting it on the market with profit. Nigerian inventors have shown many workable products without moving to the next level of making people to be aware of their products. They are yet to make their products sellable, needless to say making profit.  Invention is a difficult process, a time consuming one and often exhaustive to the inventors. Many inventors are disappointed after struggling for years with ideas they couldn't make to work. Today, some inventors have abandoned their great ideas out of frustration. What are the challenges to Nigerian inventors? What are the causes of frustration to transform the inventors great dreams to reality?

The first challenge is the lack of coherent and comprehensive policy direction on invention, research and development. What kind of support should government give to inventors? what is the role of government in encouraging industries to  support research, mass produce prototype machines for commercial purpose? Nelson Eze brought out his frustration in an interview with The Guardian Newspaper of 23^rd July, 2016.  He was reported saying “I have represented Anambra State government in some exhibitions and I have trophies for them. Unfortunately the Anambra State government has not deemed it fit to encourage me. I won gold medals in Junior Science and Technicians in Akwa Ibom in 2011. I have gone to Abuja twice and in one of such exhibitions the state came first with my products. Last year, I went to represent Enugu State in Abuja and that was NTA/ETV Expo 2015. My project was the overall best. I brought them trophy. It was the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) people that took us to the State Commissioner for Education, but till date nothing has been done.” Eze is the inventor of portable generator that uses water instead of gasoline. His invention was reported in the last week edition of this Column. Kehinde Obasanjo is another frustrated Nigerian inventor, he was reported by Thisday Newspaper to develop a prototype multi-purpose amphibian jet. Since at the age of six, he started inventions by constructing toy vehicles that moved forward and backward. As an undergraduate student of Lagos state university, he continued with his creative talent and kept on with it. This consequently, metamorphosed into a clean sample of amphibian jet. However, building the prototype of his intended brand is not the end of it all; it has to be transformed into main product. So to Obasanjo, there is one major challenge and that is, who to fund his big, potentially profitable project.  He told the paper that he has been calling on the government, the corporate entities and private individuals to lend their hand of help to him but the more he kept calling and waiting the more his hope was dampened. Policy direction is clearly needed to address these unending frustrations of our inventors. Sometimes in 2014, I participated in a one day stakeholders workshop to validate a policy working document, titled "Framework For The Nigerian National System Of Innovation". The document sought to create a strategy for fostering innovations at all levels by focusing on five key parameters: Platform, Inclusion, Eco-system, Drivers and Discourse. It was targeted at redefining innovations to go beyond formal Research & Development parameters; facilitate platforms of innovative solutions that could lead to inclusive growth for the Nigerian nation. It was to foster an innovation eco-system across domains and sectors to strengthen entrepreneurship; focus on key drivers to ensure green growth, multidisciplinary approach, sustainability, durability and quality and expand the space for dialogue and discourse on innovation. From 2014 to date, there might have been several efforts made by government and other relevant stakeholders with insignificant impacts and awareness to the society. As far as putting in place a clear, coherent, comprehensive and all-inclusive policy direction on invention and innovation in Nigeria, it is not yet Uhuru

The second major challenge is the lackadaisical attitude of investors to support Nigerian inventors. This challenge is vividly summarized by Chief Okon Essien, the president-general of Association of Nigerian Inventors in an exclusive interview with LEADERSHIP of 15th April, 2014. He said “for us to bring out made-in-Nigeria products of high quality to meet international standard you have to invest money, that is number one problem. Many investors are not keen to put venture capital to develop these inventions to marketable products internationally". He continued “In fact we have very useful products that can be developed from Nigerian inventions. For example, a power generating plant just developed by one of our members from overhead water tank. From overhead water tank, water flows down under pressure, turns a turbine, which turns alternator to generate power. We have a plant in Warri, our investors have refused to invest money to perfect that project, nobody is keen to finance it, they all want readymade products, yet another product, the electricity generation from the fuel -less generator developed by The Federal Polytechnic Ilaro,  independent inventors worked on it for perfection but investors are not coming up to invest in it. Essien further said the unavailability of venture capital companies to assist inventors with seed capital for their various projects was another problem or challenge that was inhibiting the development of made-in-Nigeria products. “You see most of the products you see are made by independent inventors; most of them roadside mechanics, they don’t have enough capital to do fancy finishing. You know, when you’re talking of the regular products made by Nigerian factories, we mean original innovative products that can come out. In order to finish it, you need the expertise and some of these inventors are not trained in machining, in design engineering and to do that they have to link up with experts who will demand money from them and it still boils down to venture capital. He attributed this abysmal  habits of the investors to lack of "Venture Capital Companies".  He was quoted saying “We don’t have venture capital companies in this country; by this I mean people who want to put money where they’re not entirely sure it can succeed. It goes with risk taking in business. Once this can be promoted then there will be a noticeable turnaround in the good finishing of Nigerian inventions," He boasted "we can do what other inventors are doing in China and other developed countries, however, our problem is the inability of the government and investors to invest in Nigerian investors and innovators. The lack of faith of investors and even the government in developing the innovation and inventions industry is the reason behind Nigeria’s inability to come up with a globally recognized product”.

Another major challenge to inventors is the ever-present problem of stopping other people from copying and profiting from the inventions made people. Although patency of invention is the strategy to protect ownership of inventions. A patent legally protects the intellectual property rights of the inventor and legally recognizes that a claimed invention is actually an invention. Invention not patented can be stolen by others or even a country such as well known  case of yam pounder, which was invented by Nigerian inventors, but "stolen" out of the country by another country, mass produced and imported back to Nigeria with no benefit going to the inventor and Nigeria as a nation. Although, there are rules and requirements for patenting an invention in Nigeria, but how many inventors are aware of such rules? What is the process of obtaining a patent for an invention made by a local inventor in a local community? These are issues needing urgent attention of the policy makers.

In conclusion, Nigeria has numerous opportunities of leading the African continent in technological breakthroughs as presented by the Nigerian born inventors at home and abroad. These opportunities have potential to make Nigeria great among the comity of nations but potential is like a large fertile farm with good soil and abandoned water, without cultivation, the farm will be covered by weeds and dangerous reptiles. This is a clarion call to all and sundry. Link to the newspaper version

Nigerian born Inventors, their Inventions, Challenges and Opportunities IV

Nigerian born Inventors, their Inventions, Challenges and Opportunities IV

Nelson Eze is one of the silent, obscured and uncelebrated Nigerian inventors. Yet, his inventions are ironic with a capacity to address the Nigerian perennial and persisting energy crisis in environmentally friendly manner. He invented a generator, which is powered with water without fumes and developed a machine for converting a waste to fuel and methane gas. A water powered generator will certainly be loved and adored by all and sundry in this period of economic uncertainty.  Eze is 22-year-old lad from Imilike-Agu village in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State who has spent most of his life in Awka, the Anambra State capital. He is a student of the Instrumentation and Control System Engineering of the National Metallurgical Training Institute, Onitsha, Anambra State. The Eze's story was published in The Guardian Newspaper of 23^rd July, 2016. He was quoted by the paper saying  “I have quite some number of inventions, but for now it is only three of them that I want Nigerians to be aware of. One of them is a portable hydroelectric generating set. It is a portable generator that uses water instead of gasoline. It can be used to power a house. It is still under development, but now I have one that can work, but I can’t say it is completely okay now because I still need to improve on it". What motivated him to substitute fuel with water for powering a generator set? Was it the ever increasing price of fuel, which is becoming unaffordable? was it the fuel scarcity and adulteration in many cities of Nigeria? None of these as Eze provided the answer “I came about the idea of the machine when I was in primary six. I lost a friend to generator fumes. He was watching a movie in the parlour while the generator was on. Suddenly there was rain and the family decided to bring the generator close to the parlour and everybody slept in the process. The fumes from the generator that found its way into the room killed my friend. It was a very pathetic and ugly incident for me. I was a year ahead of him in school then, but we were very close. It was from there that I vowed to find an alternative to gasoline generator. It was like saying if the whiteman can make Nigeria generate electricity from water, why can’t they get them into smaller shapes like the one we have in our houses to serve the same purpose?" Eze's dream became a reality after critical thinking and experimentation. “Today, I have been able to design a generating set that can use water to power one room. It can carry your bulbs, fans and television, but not pressing iron, fridge and air-conditioners.” Eze told The Guardian newspaper. On how long the hydro-electric generator can last, he said: “As long as the water is there, the generator keeps running. You only need to change water when you want. We want to end smoke, because the machine does not have exhaust pipes, you can keep it in your room while it is working. Its sound is very minimal. I want to upgrade them to even enable them power a community. I use the one I have developed in my place but it is not that efficient because some of the components still need to be improved on, because I picked some of them from the waste bin”.

While he was still perfecting his generator, Eze developed another machine capable of transforming waste to fuel. He names it “Mgbanwe C12”, which means "change or transform", what a name in this era of change dispensation. Mgbanwe C12 was designed to convert waste to fuel. The motivation for Eze is simply to get rid of the massive waste in the cities of Nigeria. He was quoted saying "The major challenge we have been having is waste disposal. I am not saying that waste management people are not doing enough. I had to think of the way of taking care of these wastes permanently and even bring them to generate funds and create employment. I engaged in a kind of research on what to do with those waste and that made me start with an experiment. I can still remember that during the time of flooding and you see wastes here and there. They don’t decay, but block drainages. “That was what actually moved me to find how really transform these wastes. The idea was that if I create a machine that can return waste back to its original state, then I could extract oil in it and transform it to fuel. I was able to complete the machine. So the machine is working and not only that it can turn waste to fuel, it can give you the best form of interlocking stone”. For his ingenuity, Eze won a trophy during; “in 2015, I represented Enugu State in Abuja at NTA/ETV Expo 2015. My project was the overall best. I brought trophy for Enugu State.

Energy crisis and its unsteadiness affect not only the daily lives of the people, but also the regular operation of the businesses and thus, became a centre of attraction to our inventors. Unlike Eze whose generator operates with water in place of fuel, Obinna Ezendu, a committed young inventor has achieved a milestone on the way to addressing the persistent energy crisis in Nigeria. He invented a fuel efficiency tank, which he calls "Obitank" . The tank increases the fuel utilization four times than the normal fuel consumption rate. “This means that if you normally use a gallon of fuel for just five hours, be sure to use the same amount of fuel for 15 to 20 hours on the same generator. "Yes! This is a proven fact as I have successfully built and tested it,” Ezendu informed Rising Africa, an online Newspaper in its edition of 3rd January, 2016, The structure of the tank consists of the fuel reservoir and the combustion chamber. The secret is that the device consumes the fuel in a gaseous form, that is the fuel in liquid form vaporizes into gaseous form or vapor, which flows straight through into the pipes to the combustion chamber; it allows the available fuel to last longer than that it is supposed to. Moreover, the taps on the fuel reservoir makes it possible to adjust the amount of the fuel vapour flowing into the chamber. Ezendu provided advantages of his invention “The three good things associated with this innovation are: 1. you will save a lot of money on the amount of fuel you ordinarily require to run your business or house effectively; 2. you will help to save our environment, because due to the method of combustion, the engine emits very little amount of carbon; 3. your engine will not require frequent servicing or scrapping of carbon in the piston areas,”.

In the medical and pharmaceutical arena, Nigerians are similarly excelling especially those living overseas. In this category, we have notable personalities like Yemi Adesokan, Aloysius Anaebonam, Emeka Nchekwube among others. Adesokan, an United state based Nigerian was selected by experts judges of the Technology Review of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States of America for his discovery work on drug resistant infections. He was deservedly honoured by MIT in 2011 for his innovative work. Medical experts are of the opinion that this highly rated innovation may bring an end to the problem of drug resistance in the World particularly in the African continent. professor Anaebonam is another United State based Nigerian. He is first degree graduate of the University of Nigeria Nsukka and a holder of MSc and PhD in Industrial Pharmacy from  Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, Boston, Massachusetts. He is a developer and marketer of advanced cosmetics treatment products and skin related ailments.  He is refuted to have earned at least 12 United States Patents in Pharmaceutical and medical arena. Details of his inventions can be accessed via; http://nlipw.com/in-wipo-day-10-nigeria-inventors/. Yet another personality, Emeka Nchekwube, Lagos - born Nigerian also living in the USA. After obtaining the necessary medical qualifications in Nigeria and USA, He became a board certified Neurosurgeon by American Board of Neurological Surgeons, member of American Medical Association and other professional bodies. He is dully credited with at least four inventions, which were patented by the United States of America. Among the patented inventions of Emeka were Hypoestoxides, derivatives and agonists for use as stent-coating agents (Us patent no. 7229979) and another Hypoestoxides use for antiparasitic agents (Us patent no. 6242484) click for the newspaper version- (to be concluded next week)