By Vivian Onyebukwa
The Federal Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (FMSTI), Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, has disclosed that Nigeria was the first country in the ECOWAS sub region to substantially comply with the recommendations of African Forum on Research and Innovation (FARI), held from 17th- 21st of October, as adopted, having signed into Presidential Executive Order No 5 since February.
The minister stated this during the South West dialogue between government and stakeholders in the science, technology and innovation ecosystem on establishment of technology and innovation centres, which took place in Lagos.
FARI is a network or partnership framework for researchers, innovators, the private sector and civil society where project funding opportunities can be shared, strengthen governance in the area of STI, ensure the promotion of partnership among different stakeholders including scientists, policy makers, the private sector and local communities at national and regional levels. It will also put in place a presidential monitoring and evaluation mechanism for the activities of STI at the national and regional levels. According to Mamora, FARI is also to promote indigenous research in research projects to respond to the needs of the population, ensure that heavy equipment in country and ECOWAS member state are pooled and socialize STI at all levels of the education system.
With the establishment of FARI, the minister, who was represented by the permanent secretary of the ministry, Monilola Udoh, stated government’s resolve to protect researchers, investors and innovators with appropriate legal framework like issuance of a patent and intellectual property rights, create conducive and enabling environment for work, reward scientists and researchers for successful commercialisation of research and innovation efforts, attract more women and children into research and innovation.
He said: “In line with the Presidential Executive Order No 5, STI Policy of 2022, and the Abuja recommendations of FARI, we shall work tirelessly to remove all obstacles, close all gaps so as to encourage cooperation and collaboration among R/D institutions and OPS, ensure that there is cordial relationship among critical stakeholders with STI ecosystem in the country.
“This will help to reduce the cost of production, guaranty stability in the supply chain, stabilize forex crises and provide a solid foundation for irreversible industrialization that is inclusive and sustainable for national development, employment generation and creation of our common wealth for the good of all.”
Mamora further stated the vision of the
country under the 2022 Revised STI Policy to have large, strong, diversified, sustainable and competitive economy that effectively harness the talents and energies of it’s people and responsibly exploits it’s national endowment to guarantee a high standard of living and quality of life for its citizens by 2030 with the mission of harnessing, developing and utilizing STI to build a large, strong, diversified, sustainable and competitive economy that guarantees a high standard of living ans quality of life for its citizen.
Talking about the issue of substandard products, Mamora stated that it is widely known and accepted that even when all the alliances are formed and enhanced productivity achieved, the challenge of conformance to standards remains a most constraint factor for the country to attain improved global competitiveness. “The Federal Government is aware of the unfortunate situations created by substandard, counter-fit and defective materials, goods, processes and even systems on our people and trading partners. This we shall tackle under the Presidential Executive Order No 5 through interventions to ensure that strong regulatory frameworks are deployed with all sense of responsibility, so that we can build trust and confidence in our goods and services,” he said.
The national coordinator and chief executive strategy implementation task force for Presidential Executive Order No 5, noted that Nigeria is not fully harnessing all that it has, and therefore, the program was to bring together all the technology and innovation centres, to serve as a hub where technology and innovation of ecosystem can be discussed to see how they can produce markets that will be good enough for export to export more and import less to boost our economy.
Also speaking, the National Coordinator and Director Science, Technology Promotion, Henry Eteama noted that the program was to engage the South West members who are critical to support the federal government. He said: “Government is trying to put Nigeria on a global arena by trying to imbibe culture to be able to achieve that. We have seen where we are weak and where we should direct our effort. So Mr President issued Executive Order No 5 as one of instruments to achieve our goals, achieving international standard in product and services. So as a result, we decided we should leverage the innovation system to achieve that culture, while looking at the ecosystem and we decided that our style will change. We are bringing science, technology and innovattion to the grassroots to look at how we can bring the academia and research institutions, businesses so that we begin to use science and technology to improve production, distribution and consumption. If it is well done, our government system will change. We want to make our scientist as rich as they appear in global arena. We want a paradigm shift. We want to look inwards and use science, technology and innovation to improve the way we do things, to create jobs, etc”.
Lagos State Commissioner for Science and Technology, represented by the Director, Science Programme and Promotion in the ministry, Dr Iyabo Phillips, congratulated the Federal Government on the initiative, stating that Lagos state is already on this pedestrian on the establishment of technology council, by giving out grants to fill infrastructural gaps in the state. “This program will uplift what the government is doing already , giving grants to over 250 million. We want to partner the federal government”.
Dr Emeka Okengwu, a representative for NACCIMA, emphased the importance of trust and the need to build trust among the stakeholders. “When we build trust, we will be able to get the country that we need. When you do that thing that you think you are too big to do, you are building trust”.
Dr Peter Ogbobe, while speaking on legality of the Executive Order 5, described it is a complete legal document that can be obeyed by all. “It is a law pronounced by the President after going through the necessary steps. We are seeking to establish it in all the Geo-political zones of the country. It is a legal structure and establishment where people will be meeting monthly, weekly, daily headed by the Director to find out the level of interaction going on in all concerned to see if our jobs are exported”.
According to Ogbobe, non compliance of Executive Order No 5 can land one in EFCC, Police, or other security agencies. “Substantial part of our wealth is in the hands of foreigners. We should make sure that we use Executive Order No 5 to promote productivity using our own Nigerian advocacy to ensure that every Nigerian understands, and to make sure that STI is part of our every day life. To be a member of G7, the qualification is an increase in STI. That is why STI is very important to any nation. We have all the mineral raw materials in the country. We should not sit down to see foreigners to take it from us. We cant be sending our research to abroad and sent back to Nigeria. This should be discouraged”.
Looking at the way forward, Prof H.D Ibrahim, Director General, RMRDC, asked: “How do we move from where we are and move to the next level? Research is useless unless we develop strategy to move it to the market. This is the presidential executive order, so it is different from other policies of government. Executive order is an intervention order.”