A team from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) yesterday visited the Federal Institute of Industrial Research (FIIRO), Oshodi, Lagos to explore ways of partnering to commercialise its products at the forthcoming TETFUND National Research Foundation Fair billed for November 17-22 at the Eagles Square, Abuja.
The team comprised the Chairman of the Fair Organising Committee, Prof. Umar Bindir; Prof. Anthony Christopher Okpe and the Deputy General Manager, Innov8 Hub Mr. Deji Ige.
Welcoming the team, FIIRO’s Director-General/CEO, Dr. Jummai Adamu Tutuwa, said: “The people that are looking for jobs are beginning to understand that FIIRO can fulfill whatever they want.
“And, secondly, I want to say that FIÌRO is strategically placed to fulfill the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President, through food security or capacity-building or creation of jobs.
“I am happy that today the TETFUND people are here and they have seen what we are doing and they are now appreciating what FIIRO is doing.”
Bindir, an engineer, recalled that Mr. President in 2023, under his Renewed Hope Agenda recognised that there are many people that required renewal of their hope. And the core objectives of the agenda are “to renew and reinvigorate the economy very creatively and innovatively by massively generating employment among Nigerians, particularly young people who are either educated or not educated, but unemployed and put money in the pockets of such Nigerians”.
The chairman added that the critical catalyst for the agenda is technology.
He said: “Technology is what drives people with the appropriate skills to take advantages of what their country can offer. So, our objective coming to FIIRO, like most institutions similar to FIlRO, is to come and see the capacity that you have accumulated here, not just the capacity, but to see products that you have been able to evolve through research and development.
“And I’m happy to report to Nigerians that we have come here; this is not our first time. FIIRO, having survived between 60 to 70 years of existence, has so many technologies that are ready for absorption by Nigerians to actually renew their hope. We have seen manufacture of drinks from technologies that are very, very critical and high-tech. We’ve seen production of even energy, elements like briquettes and so on and so forth.
“We’ve seen the evolution of machinery from small-scale hand-operated machinery up to pilot plant level, producing immensely. We’ve seen efforts of producing products based on technology with infrastructure, the building industry etc.
“So, we’ve come to FIIRO to encourage its management led by their Director-General and their scientists to bring these products that are ready for Nigerians to absorb to the technology fair.
At the technology fair, we believe that young people, who are encouraged and who want to be on their own, who want to raise their hope, will come there and see the possibilities.
“We’ve also visited the development banks and we’ve also encouraged the commercial banks to come to the fair to see the possibilities with Nigerian technology. That is not even enough. We’ve even visited the business groups like Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA) to encourage their members to come to the fair so that they can see how they can amplify the productivity of their industries and so on.
“We’ve even gone ahead to encourage embassies and the development partners to come to the fair so that they can make their interventions more efficiently, particularly using Nigerian technology to create jobs and wealth. So, this is the broad bandwidth of our own objective, and we believe that if we start this way and we sustain this effort for the next four to five years, you will now see Nigeria emerging as a technology giant.
“Cameroonians will come here to look at what we have done to help their people. We will see Benin Republic people who are our next neighbours. Maybe we can even get Egyptians and other international countries to come here and learn. This is the objective. So, TETFUND, being an institution supporting researchers to do research, is transforming gradually to say that if you want our funding for research, make sure that your proposal and objectives are with a research programme that can, ultimately, lead you to something that is commercialisable. Gone are the days for this theoretical research that will continue going on and on and on and on. Well, not that they are not important, they are. But, TETFUND wants to ensure that the intervention they do becomes practical.
“We have enough technology with big commitment and, certainly, we have the leadership with the policy to ginger these young people to take the responsibility of their lives.
Okpe, also of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, said the committee hoped that during the fair, FIIRO and other organisations that would participate, would “midwife the situation” that would give birth to production of the technology from researches.
He said they had seen some innovations that could put FIIRO in a vintage position at the fair.
Ige said entrepreneurs were ready to partner good and bankable researches.
He said: “The purpose of every research, in every society, is to solve problems. When problems are solved, jobs are created, livelihood is assured, and welfare of the people is assured. So, when people are doing research and development, there should be a purpose to it. The good thing is that FIIRO is on the track of such purpose.
