‘Home grown innovations can drive economic growth’

Chinyere Okoroafor

Minister of state, Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, Barrister Mohammed Abdullahi, has said that the  COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the fore the need for Nigeria to look at home grown innovations for economic growth.

He said the Federal ministry of science and technology believes that institutions need to become more innovative and that research and development needs to be commercially driven for industrial and economic growth.

According to him, the ministry has developed a science and technology park that will serve as a platform for efficient transfer of scientific and technological breakthroughs from the academia and Research Institutes to industries and businesses.

Abdullahi, who spoke during the Nigeria triple helix roundtable webinar organised by the Nigerian Economic Summit group (NESG), the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the tertiary education trust fund (tetfund) said that technological incubation centres and cluster projects are being created to facilitate the development and nurturing of young entrepreneurs and firms.

Its theme was How Innovation Drives Economic Development.

He said the ministry of science and technology is streamlining research and development across various sectors and agencies to ensure proper co-ordination.

Abdullahi added that tetfund is providing training to about 600 researchers to help build institutional capacity and help Nigeria compete favorably within the innovation space. “The triple Helix Roundtable is helping to practice ideas. The Science and technology innovation ecosystem (STI) roadmap will help develop the innovation space, promote development of raw materials. It will also help universities focus on skill acquisitions rather than academic contributions” the minister said.

Representing the Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (tetfund), Dr. Salihu Bakari said that two-thirds of 2020 research grants will focus on science, technology and innovation while the rest will cut across humanities, security, national integration and others.

He said that TETFUND is sensitive to prevailing issues and apart from the 7.5 billion Naira National research grant, 200 million Naira has been disbursed to research specifically focused at the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vice-chairman of the NESG and Managing Director of Siemens Nigeria, Mrs. Onyeche Tifase said that the COVID-19 pandemic has made Nigeria realize the things that are lacking and also helped to create a sense of urgency for innovation. She mentioned that policies that incentivize the private sector needs to be implemented and that the academic environment should be supported.

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She said that it was critical for the pace of development and collaboration in education and infrastructure be quickened, as without infrastructure, innovation cannot be accessed for economic development.

“Solutions need to be created according to the status quo and it is important that Nigeria focuses on strategy, structure and standard to improve and develop Nigeria’s innovationspace,” she said.

The President of the pharmaceutical society of Nigeria and former Chairman of the NESG, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa said that 60 percent of locally used medicines and as much as 80 percent of raw materials used locally in the pharmaceutical industry are imported.

He said that the heavy import dependency of Nigeria is to blame and that lack of incentives and long-term funding, including access to market also hindered innovation in Nigeria.

The chairman of the technical committee of the Nigeria Triple Helix Roundtable, Mr. Tope Toogun said it was important to equip research institutions to help resolve market and system failures which have been an hinderance to innovation in Nigeria.

The commission adopted the concept of the Triple Helix model of the education sector as the core operating framework for setting and delivering the University Education Reform Agenda in the Medium Term (2019- 2023) and the Long term (2023-2050) focused on repositioning the Education sector to deliver national outcomes and impact.