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From David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi
The zonal Director, National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI), southeast zone, Pastor Dr Uche Chukwu in Nnewi Anambra State, weekend, articulated some salient achievements and benefits of the agency that she said many people did not know.
Dr Chukwu said that the agency under her watch had been able to incubate more than 200 enterprenuers who were into various aspects of manufacturing including agro-allied products, chemical products, fabrications and all that.
She explained that the agency which is under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology had incubated those who engaged in foundry, motor and motorcycle spare parts production, an area Nnewi enterprenuers were known for.
Dr Chukwu also disclosed that it was because of the commercial activities and a reasonable number of industries in Nnewi that necessitated the establishment of the incubation centre in Nnewi in the first instance.
“We incubate those enterprenuers and they have over 1,000 different products and those products are in various supermarkets, shoprites, in local markets and hypermarkets. The products are doing well in the markets.
“The products are not limited to Nigerian markets. They are also exported to about three countries now apart from West African countries. Those other countries include United Kingdom, United States, South Africa and some European countries, ” she explained.
The zonal Director said in the area of youth empowerment, that the agency had been able to train over 3,000 youths. She noted that the training that popularized the agency was when it trained over 5,000 youths from the twenty one local government areas of Anambra State. According to her, the youths were trained in various skills.
“If the youths are properly engaged, at the end of the day, all those problems like youths restiveness and other anti social activities youths engage in will not be there because there won’t be any room for idle minds.
“But one of the challenges we have is that after the training the youths are supposed to be empowered. We put up a proposal that comprises training and empowerment because after training some of them are not financially capable to start up. They need the support of government to be able to start up the various skills they acquired.
Dr Chukwu noted that some of the entreprenuers could be well talented without knowing that. She said the agency assisted such people and also in the area of packaging their products.
“Some of them already have their products outside the country with the help of the Export Promotion Council.
“When they come to us we know they have the talent but do not know how to develop that. Immediately they come to us we advise them on what to do. Some of our people don’t know what packaging is. When you package your product well, you have ownership of that product.
“Some of them after being assisted by the agency received export promotion certifications and as I’m talking to you now their products are outside Nigerian markets. We try as much as possible to package them so that their products can compete favourably with both imported and locally made products. We have a lot of success stories to tell, ” she said.
She explained that the agency had always advised the enterprenuers to be proud of their products.
Dr Chukwu said the agency had changed the narrative where in the past some projects made in Nigeria were tagged made in China or any other country other than being proud of Nigeria as the country of origin.
“We have discouraged them from doing that. Any product that is made in any technyology incubation centre within the country bears a label that shows the name of the centre where the entrepreneur is incubated, ” she further explained.
On the side of patronage from the public, she said that was assured, though she mentioned underfunding as a factor that had retarded some of the activities of the agency.
She expressed the hope that if the agency could be adequately funded, it would expand its meaningful contributions to the micro and macroeconomic development of the country.
She said that government needed to make available technology parks where graduates of the incubation centers could settle down and put their various skills in practice and also where they could be accessed if needed.
