Peeping at the Technology and Innovation Expo 2017 in Abuja II

Peeping at the Technology and Innovation Expo 2017 in Abuja II

In the first part of this article last week, two of the questions posed were; what are the other lessons? And what are the challenges of science, technology and innovations in Nigeria? Before then, let me look at the high points of this august gathering. The first is the prizes awarded to the exhibitors who emerged as winners of the Expo 2017. These were cash prizes presented to outstanding exhibitors in the four categories of exhibition. The categories included; Research institutions, technology and Entrepreneurship, tertiary institutions‎ and Junior Engineers, Technicians and Scientists (JETS). In the Research institutions category Nigeria Air Force‎ (NAF) came first for their display of Aircraft management technology, engine compression and washing machine. The second position went to Nigeria Building and Research Institute (NIBRI), Abuja, for constructing a moveable house while ‎Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMDC), Abuja took the third position for producing a break pad for vehicles. In the tertiary institutions category, University of Nigeria (UNN), Nsukka came first, Hassan Usman Kastina Polytechnic took the second position while Covenant University, and the only private University winning award emerged in the third position. At the category of young Nigerian scientists, the first three positions attracted prizes. The first three winners of the 774 Young Nigerian Scientists Presidential Award were Mas­ter Adedipe Oluwatosin of Ekiti State who took first position, Mater Godwin Shitta emerged second while Master Babatunde Ayoola took the third position. The winner of the first position went home with princely sum of one million Naira in addition science kits, six hundred thousand and five hundred thousand Naira in addition to the set of science kits awarded to winners. Thus, the first positions in each of the four categories were awarded N1 million, while the second position and third positions were awarded N750 and third N500, respectively. However, in the JETS Category the first position was given N300,000 while the second and third positions were awarded N200,000 and third N100,000, respectively.

The second high point is the crowd pulling exhibitions; visitors thronged to admire and appreciate the achievements in science and technology of their compatriots who displayed all manners of crafts and technologies from spectacular miniature inventions/innovations to gigantic ones such as aircraft, drones and earth moving equipment. The number one attention puller was the “Amara wooden car” manufactured by Aliyu, a furniture maker from Bida, Niger State. He stole the show with his wooden car, which attracted the attention of virtually every visitor at the expo. People besieged the car and took turns to take snapshots. It was a mecca of sorts, as many could not get tired visiting and appreciating the wonderful work of a Carpenter from Bida town. The fame of the Amara car was elevated as the Minister Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, entered the car and rode to the venue of the opening ceremony. He also rode in the car after the closing ceremony back to his office, to the admiration of other ministers and the teeming crowd. Aliyu told Daily Sun, a national newspaper that his quest to build the car lasted for three years before it eventually came to fruition. He told the paper the car named after his grandfather; Amara, was his contribution to technological development in the country, stressing that there was need for government to support creative minds: “It was hardship that propelled me to begin to find a way to do something that can help me get money. I started with making furniture; I didn’t learn it anywhere. But with time, I mastered the art of furniture making; then I started researching on this car before I made it two years ago.” Aliyu confessed that the wooden car has become a source of income of some sort for him as young people in Bida pay tokens to ride it. Unfortunately, Aliyu did not make it to the list of the winners! Another crowd pulling was the Solar-powered ‘wooden’ tricycle made by a 67 years old Isiyaku Ahmed from Kano. Ahmed rode the solar-powered tricycle from Kano to Abuja to participate in the exhibition. He was quoted saying “I suffered on the road to get here, but persisted because of my interest quoted him. I have made solar-powered jeep and a big tricycle too, but I came with this one because we were asked to come with projects with not less than 70 per cent local materials.” Ahmed confessed could do many things with solar as source of energy; while appealing to government to engage the youth by providing them with skills in the area. He offered to impart the knowledge on some young people if the government gave him the necessary support to do so. On the advantages of the solar-powered jeep and tricycle, Aliyu said: “It doesn’t take fuel; no engine oil, no environmental pollution.”

The first lesson of the Expo 2017 is bringing out the talents and capabilities of Nigerians in science and technology.  Innovation could be a natural phenomenon, whose development is facilitated by many factors such as necessity, intellectual thinking and concern for development. Nigeria is blessed with these factors and thus, has the highest number of innovators in Africa as reported by many media over the years. As stated in one of my previous articles, Nigerians are naturally gifted with higher than average level of ingenuity, hard work and perseverance. When these are added to the prevailing difficult situation, the result is a multitude of innovators scattered all over the country. Can we take advantage and launch the country to a greater height in science and technology?

The second lesson is uncoordinated manner we are conducting scientific researches; there are many duplications of efforts by individuals and organizations. For instance, every person, organization is doing similar agricultural machineries – threshers, dryers, etc. Why can’t we synergize and focus in one direction until we perfect our acts?

The participation of higher institutions of learning is below my expectation considering their tremendous efforts in research and development. Every university and Polytechnic student of science and technology based programmes must undertake a research project as a mandatory condition to graduate. Considering the 100s of universities and polytechnics in the country, where are all those research projects by the graduating students and their lecturers? The truth is, most of these research works are not demand-driven but simply undertaken to earn a degree, diploma or publish in academic journal to earn promotion. Government must formulate a policy to guide conduct of research and development in all the institutions of learning and research centres. Research should be demand driven formulated from participatory problems identification.

Another lesson is a virtual absence of linkage between research centres/universities and industries. For Nigeria to move forward in technology development, there must be a strong linkage between research centres as technology generators and industries as up takers. Industries should challenge research centres/universities to find solutions to their technical problems in respect of their production while the technology generated must be tested by the industries. Tertiary institutions should involve industrial sector in designing of course and curriculum of their various programmes. There should be a compulsory provision for the students’ industrial attachment in every industry for the students to acquire experience. The current student industrial attachment should be strengthened accordingly. A policy guideline is needed in this direction.

Another lesson is the absence of concrete financial support for research and innovations in this country. A dedicated technology and innovation fund should be generated by the three tiers of government and be set aside to stimulate research activities including commercialization. There should be zero or one digit interest rate on loan from banks for the purpose of commercializing a useful and proven technology nationwide.

In conclusion, the lessons from Expo 2017 should be used to adequately address the theme of the occasion “Science, Technology and Innovation for Nigeria’s economic diversification”. The Nigeria’s economy need to be depended on many sectors; agriculture, mining, industrialization, etc and be less depended on the oil, which made us to be what we are today. It is time to act by all and sundry