War College 2007

8/8/2019 War College 2007

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ENGINEERING INFRASTRUCTURE AND RESEARCH AND

DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

Professor O.O. AdewoyeDirector General/Chief Executive

National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure

(NASENI)Idu Industrial Area

PMB 391 Garki, Abuja.e-mail:[email protected]

[email protected]

An invited paperfor Presentation to the

Participants of National Defence College Course 16National Defence College

Abuja

19th November, 2007.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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CONTENTS

1.0. Introduction . . . . . . . . 4

2.0 Infrastructure: What is it? . . . . . . 5

3.0 Current State of Nigerias Infrastructure . . . . 7

3.1 Power . . . . . . . . 8

3.2 Petroleum . . . . . . . . 9

3.3 Transportation Infrastructure . . . . . 9

3.4 Water . . . . . . . . 12

3.5 Agriculture . . . . . . . . 13

3.6 Telecommunication . . . . . . 14

4.0 Engineering Infrastructure . . . . . . 165.0 Development Of Engineering Infrastructure in

Nigeria: NASENI Model . . . . . . 17

6.0 Engineering Infrastructure For NationalDevelopmentProblems and Opportunities . . . 21

6.1 Reverse Engineering Programme . . . . 23

6.2 Industrial Cluster Programme . . . . . 236.3 Technology Incubation Centres/ Science Parks . . 246.4 Satellite Industries Programme . . . . . 24

6.5 Promotion of Local Content in Industrial Machinery . 25

6.6 Investment in Emerging Technology Development . 256.7 Development Programme for SMEs . . . . 266.8 Proactive Advisory Role Engineering

Infrastructural Development . . . . . 26

6.9 Upgrading of Mechanic Villages . . . . 266.10 Productive Use of Patents . . . . . 27

7.0 NASENI Programmes in Emerging Technologies . . . 27

7.1 Advanced Manufacturing Technology . . . 277.2 Other Areas of Technological Development . . 36


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7.2.1 Solar Cell Production . . . . . 36

7.2.2 Solar Lighting . . . . . . 37

7.2.3 Establishment of Mini-Foundry

in Tertiary Institutions . . . . . 37

7.3.4 Science Kits . . . . . . 37

7.3.5 Human Capacity Development in

Engineering Design and Development . . 38

8.0 Problems and Constraints of R&D in Nigeria

with Special Reference to the Military . . . . 39

9.0 Nigerian National Policy on Research

and Development and Innovation . . . . . 43

9.1 Funding of Research and Development

(R & D) in Nigeria . . . . . . 48

10.0 CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . 51

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . . . . . . . 51

REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . 52APPENDICES . . . . . . . . . 54


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1.0. INTRODUCTION

It is generally accepted that technology with adequate Infrastructure is an

indispensable instrument for the industrialization of a nation.

INFRASTRUCTURE generally refers to the manpower, physical structures and

installations which a country establishes for the purpose of facilitating its

agricultural, industrial and commercial production, rendering social service,

maintaining the security of the community etc, such as transportation

infrastructure, communication facilities, utilities supply, education and health-

care facilities, fire-fighting systems, systems for the maintenance of law and

order etc. To achieve enhanced growth as well as stability of our national

economy and the energy sector, infrastructure should be endogenously

developed. This will lead to long term sustainability of industrialization.

Countries which now dominate the world economically and technologically are

those with highly developed science and engineering infrastructural capabilities.

The so called third world countries such as India, China, South Korea,Malaysia, Indonesia, etc. which have now successfully industrialized and

attained self-sufficiency in commodity production and in food supply are those

that pragmatically pursued the policy on engineering infrastructural

development over the years with well-planned and well-financed programs and

with political-will. It is right to say that any country with immense human and

natural resources but no infrastructural capability and capacity to develop andharness those resources would ever remain poor. Whereas, a country with little

natural resources but with sound infrastructural capability and capacity can

develop a thriving, self-reliant and affluent national economy. Indeed these

resources are nothing if value is not added to them. The value added to the

resources endowed to nations by God is the difference between the developed

and underdeveloped nations of the world. Most underdeveloped economies have


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natural resources but they are not able to develop the technologies required to

add value to these; thus they remain in a vicious circle of poverty.

Development of the engineering infrastructural base for the nation for the

provision of services and goods is the mandate of the National Agency for

Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI). The primary target is to

empower small and medium scale industries, through impartation of

technologies, engineering principles and practices for the production of

equipment that will meet international standards as well as flourish local capital

goods industry.

2.0 INFRASTRUCTURE: WHAT IS IT?

For a nation to develop, it must have the necessary infrastructure on ground.

The word infrastructure connotes different meaning to different people.

Infrastructure, most generally, is the set of interconnected structural elements

that provide the frameworkfor supporting the entire structure. It usually applies

only to structures that are artificial. The term is used differently in a variety of

fields; perhaps the single most well-known usage is in economics, where it

refers to physical infrastructure such as buildings and roads.

The term is often used very abstractly. For instance, software engineering tools

are sometimes described as part of the infrastructure of a development shop, and

the term infrastructural capital in economics may be overly broad, as it includes

a range from clothing to a continent-spanning canal system. This term can

overlap with the notion of internal improvements and public works.

The term is used most often in an urban planning context to denote the facilities

that support specific land uses and built environment. Typically, infrastructure
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/elementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frameworkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structurehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificialhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrastructural_capitalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_engineeringhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrastructural_capitalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clothinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_planninghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_usehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Built_environmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Built_environmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_usehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_planninghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clothinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrastructural_capitalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_engineeringhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrastructural_capitalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificialhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structurehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frameworkhttp://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/element


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in the urban context denotes two general groups of support systems:

transportation modalities (roads, rail, etc.) and utilities. These typically compose

both public and private systems, and some ambiguously held in common.

Infrastructure may also refer to necessary municipal or public services, whether

provided by the government or by private companies. If provided by nature, e.g.

the flow of a river, they are called nature's services and are defined (at least in

economics) as the product ofnatural capital. This may be augmented or directed

by infrastructural capital, e.g. a dam or canal or irrigation ditch. In general what

is called infrastructure tends to be much embedded in the natural landscape and

cannot be moved from place to place. Even municipal services rely necessarily

on fixed locations, e.g. fire stations in central positions in a city, radio towers on

tall buildings, etc.

Infrastructure (in the civic sense) includes: Transport (Roads, Highways,

Railroads, Public transport, Airports, Ship transport such as ferry and barge,

Bike paths, Sidewalks, Greenways); Public utilities (Electricity, Natural gas,

Coal delivery, Water supply, Sewers,Telephone service, Radio and television

broadcasts); Public services (Fire service or fire department,Flood protection,

Police protection, Waste management); National Services (Defense, Monetary

systems or currency, including the minting ofcoins, and printing and backing of

banknotes,Postal system,Frequency allocation, i.e., electromagnetic spectrum

management for broadcasts (terrestrial and satellite))

"Soft Infrastructure" is a term that denotes institutions that maintain the health

and cultural standards of the population. Principally, this refers to Public

education, Public health systems including public hospitals, Public libraries,

Social welfare. [1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_serviceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature%27s_serviceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_capitalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrastructural_capitalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landscapehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_masts_and_towershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highwayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railroadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_transporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bargehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bike_pathhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidewalkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenway_%28landscape%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_utilityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_resourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sewerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Televisionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_serviceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefighterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floodhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Policehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Means_of_protectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_managementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_%28military%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monetary_systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monetary_systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currencyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mint_%28coin%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postal_systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_allocationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_spectrumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standardizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_educationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_educationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_healthhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospitalshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_libraryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_welfarehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_welfarehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_libraryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospitalshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_healthhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_educationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_educationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standardizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_spectrumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_allocationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postal_systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mint_%28coin%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currencyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monetary_systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monetary_systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monetary_systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_%28military%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_managementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Means_of_protectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Policehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floodhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefighterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_serviceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Televisionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sewerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_resourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_utilityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenway_%28landscape%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidewalkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bike_pathhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bargehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_transporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railroadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highwayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_masts_and_towershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landscapehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrastructural_capitalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_capitalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature%27s_serviceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_serviceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport


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However, when we talk of engineering infrastructure, the development of

which is the mandate of our Agency, we are talking about infrastructure to fast-

track home-initiated and home-grown industrialization, achievable through local

machine designs and machine building capabilities, resulting in general

provision of such capital goods and equipment which encourage the

proliferation of viable small and medium enterprises. When the economics talk

about building of roads, development of utilities, provision of water systems,

and other physical infrastructure, the bottom line is the development of the basic

infrastructure to make all of that possible. The provision of such basic

infrastructure is a measure of the economic and manufacturing growth of a

nation. For example, every industry is composed of unit operations. Each unit

operation has an equipment that is designed and produced to carry out a

particular function. It is all these functions put together that result in the

manufacture of the particular product.

Government must therefore provide the enabling infrastructure to support

Science and Technology sector which is aimed at manufacturing; and in

Research and Development, Science and Technology funding by Government is

a necessary and obligatory expenditure in any society desirous of rapid

economic growth.

3.0 CURRENT STATE OF NIGERIAS INFRASTRUCTURE

In discussing the current state of the Nigerias Infrastructure, we should give

credit to the last and present administrations. Much is being done but because of

the decay over the years, the efforts are still a far cry from where we are

supposed to be. Let me just take a look at the history of some sector of our

economy in an attempt to discuss the current state of our infrastructure.


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3.1 Power

The first generation plant was established in 1898 at Lagos to serve the colonial

masters. This was followed with several isolated power stations at various

towns in the federation tied to their loads. The creation of Electricity

Corporation of Nigeria, ECN, in 1950 brought about strategic programmes at

establishing a power industry which is sound, operational, reliable and flexible

to manage. The Niger Dams Authority (NDA) was established in 1962 and by

1968 the government built and commissioned the Kanji Hydro Station. The

ECN built more generating stations (Thermal and Hydro) and transmission lines

to link the generating stations in a grid system and towns/cities. In 1973 ECN

and NDA were merged to form the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA).

And up till now they are still responsible for the generation and distribution of

electricity. [2]

Before the reform of the Nigeria Electricity sector, there were eight powerstations including the moribund Afam Power Stations in Nigeria with an

installed capacity of 5,920MW. With an available capacity of less than

3000MW and the demand for power of 9700MW means that most Nigerians

will continue to go on without electricity.

The reform in the electricity sector has opened up the sector and this hasencouraged the participation of the private sector in the generation and

distribution of power. The independent power producers are now building

power stations; some have been commissioned while others are in various

stages of completion. The government however did not leave everything in the

hands of the private investors as it has embarked on building of power stations

which on completion will boost the power available for distribution. It is

unfortunate that all the billions of Naira that have been sunk in NEPA have not


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been able to guarantee Nigerians regular supply of power. Part of the problems

can be traced to lack of basic infrastructure and maintenance culture.

3.2 Petroleum

A lot of Nigerians and factories have settled for generator as the alternative

means of generating power. Adding their demand for petroleum products and

that of the large number of automobiles in the country, the quest for refined

petroleum products is on the increase. However, Nigeria, the sixth largest oil

producer in the world has only four refineries. These refineries are either not

producing at all or are producing far below their installed capacity. The direct

result of this sorry state of the petroleum downstream sub-sector is the

continuous importation of refined petroleum products.

Nigeria is in this pathetic power/energy condition today due to the neglect of the

sector by past administrations. However, the present and immediate past

governments have started the reform of the downstream sector; allowing theparticipation of the private sector in the downstream subsector of the economy.

The administration has recognized that per capita energy consumption is an

index of the living standard of the people of Nigeria.

3.3 Transportation Infrastructure

Transportation is a very vital infrastructure needed for the growth of theeconomy. The ease with which people and raw materials move from one part of

a country to the other speaks volume about the economy of that country. Even

though there are different types of transportation like transportation by rail,

transportation by water, transportation by air and pipeline transportation, much

emphasis is on transportation by road. Just like other infrastructures that depend

heavily on proper government planning and the state of technology, the state of

transportation infrastructure in the country has been in a state of neglect and this


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has impacted negatively on the state of development of the economy. Some of

these types of transportation and their states in the country are shown below.

Land Transportation

Land transportation consists of roads, vehicles and motor parks among others.

Of all these constituent components, the most important is the road. This is

because road transport consists of about 95% of all surface transport in Nigeria

today with total national assets (200,000km of federal, states and local

government roads) of over three trillion naira. Despite these huge assets, the

annual budget allocation for maintenance and the importance of the roads to the

land transport, only less than 27% of the road network in Nigeria is in good

condition [3]. The state of the roads in Nigeria is bad and is becoming

embarrassing to all stakeholders. This challenged the Nigerian Society of

Engineers (NSE) and the Federal Ministry of Works to organize a workshop on

Making Nigerian Roads Motorable at the Hilton in Abuja on the 13th January,

2006. In that workshop, recommendations were made that the private sector beincluded in the building and maintenance of the roads, toll gates be

reintroduced, road funds should be established and road management institute

be established amongst others.

Air Transport

Towards the end of the year 2005, Nigeria suffered three unfortunate airdisasters. The Belview airline that crashed in Lisa Village claimed over 100

lives and for the Sosoliso airline that crashed in Portharcourt, over 50 school

children were amongst the passengers. There was also an incident in Kaduna

where the crew and passengers on the plane all died. Beside the three accidents

of that year, there was also several other incidences of aircraft veering off the

runway on landing or overshooting the runway or aircraft running into cattles or

birds on landing. Nearly all the accidents and incidences that occurred in the


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aviation industry in Nigeria are attributable to the very old aircrafts in the fleet

of the operation and the obsolete navigational and landing equipment and the

compromising attitude of some personnel in the Aviation monitoring/enforcing

agencies.

The accidents have brought the issue of the dilapidated and obsolete

Navigational equipment to the front burner. The findings of the commissioner

of enquiry into the activities of the aviation industry revealed the rot in the

industry and government is going all out to correct the rot. The old aircrafts in

the fleet of airline companies are being changed and the equipment and facilities

are being updated.

Transportation by rail

Transportation by rail was the traditional method of transportation during the

colonial era and the period immediately proceeding independence. Even though

the rail track are of narrow gauge meant for transportation of raw materials fromthe hinterlands to the ports for importation, but with proper maintenance it was

also used for moving people from one part of the country to the other during the

colonial era and after independence. The rail as it is now is a sorry state. There

is hardly anything functional with the rail system under the Nigerian Railway

Corporation that is now moribund. Corruption and mismanagement that was the

hallmark of the period between 1980 and 1999 saw to the death of the railsystem in Nigeria. The rail system can be revitalized and wider rail tracks laid

in new places in addition to introducing electric train to make transportation by

rail more efficient and reduce the pressure on our roads and by implication

reduce accident rate on our roads.


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Pipeline Transportation

Pipeline transportation became popular after the discovery of oil in Nigeria.

Pipeline transportation is mainly for transporting oil in the country, but there are

countries where pipes are used for transporting gases to homes and industries

just like water pipes. The use of pipe for transportation in the nation is still

underutilized. The problem of pipe vandalization is a major battle that is being

fought in recent times.

3.4 Water

The relevance of water as an infrastructure can not be over-emphasized. The

relevance is more felt in the industries where water is used for production; in

fire fighting services; and at home for cooking, drinking and other domestic

uses. According to World Bank, Nigerias total water resource available/capita l

(m3) including water flow from other countries is 2,260m3 and the annual use as

the percentage of the total is 1.4 (1980-2000). This shows an under-exploitation,

operation, control and management of the abundant water resource. Watersupply especially from the public mains has been unreliable over the years. It is

even worse in the villages where people have resorted to unclean water for

domestic uses and other applications. In the towns where there is more

concentration of industries, the problem is usually that of exploitation and

efficient distribution of water to places where they are needed. Some of the

problems affecting the generation and distribution of water are:(a) Lack of enough resources to change ageing water generation and

distribution equipment.

(b) Shortage of dedicated, efficient and properly trained manpower to manthis equipment.

(c) Misappropriation and in some cases outright embezzlement of fundsmeant for the maintenance of the few available equipment.


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(d) Indiscriminate digging of ground for construction purposes that inmost cases leads to destruction of distribution of pipes.

The availability of adequate water resources in the country shows that

opportunity abounds if the resource is well utilized. To ensure proper utilization

of water resources and management of the available water resources to meet

industrial and domestic uses, there is need for privatization of the generation

and supply of water resources. This is to ensure efficiency and judicious

utilization of funds meant to see to the growth of the supply and generation

system.

3.5 Agriculture

Agriculture was the main stay of the nations economy before the discovery and

commercial exploitation of oil. Even though it was not a mechanized type of

agriculture, there were indicators that being the major revenue earner for the

country then it was only a matter of time before the agricultural practicesbecome mechanized. The plan however did not see the light of the day. With oil

boom era, able-body men that were the backbone of subsistence agriculture left

the farms and villages to pursue non available white collar jobs (civil service

jobs) and left subsistence agriculture for our old parents.

Mechanized agriculture is an easy type of agricultural practice where theutilization of machinery and other farm implements make work easier, faster

and produce greater yield. This is because of the advancement in technology

and better infrastructural facilities needed for better agricultural output. But

unfortunately enough, the infrastructural facilities needed to boost agricultural

yield are non available. This is mainly due to low investment in Science and

Technology. With mechanized agriculture ably supported by good

infrastructure, high population normally required for subsistence agriculture


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will not be necessary anymore. Better infrastructure that will contribute to

greater agricultural practices can be better achieved if there are more investment

in Science and Technology that will produce tools and implements needed for

mechanized farming.

3.6 Telecommunication

The information age has made technology, particularly Information and

Communications Technology (ICT) indispensable. Nigeria is often identified as

the fastest moving economy and one of the most advanced ICT market sectors

in the Africa. It has the largest population in Africa, also making it an attractive

and big market. Telecommunication infrastructure is particularly important,

because of its far-reaching impact. Telecommunication infrastructure remains

one of the major issues affecting technology deployment required for growth

and development in Nigeria. There has however been massive improvement in

infrastructure over the past few years. Nigeria has certainly left the telecomm

state where there were only a few dial-up e-mail providers and Internet ServiceProviders (ISPs) and when Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) was

the only Telecommunications operator. It was a dark era characterized by slow

internet links, poor service, high cost, lack of infrastructure and an

unprogressive telecoms monopoly. Things have certainly changed. Deregulation

of the telecommunications sector led to the introduction of major Global System

of Mobile Communications (GSM).

The GSM revolution began in August 2001 and changed the face of Information

and Communications Technology in Nigeria. But the picture will not however

be complete without mentioning the Private Telephone Operators (PTOs) and

other landmarks such as the licensing of Globacom as Nigeria's second national

operator (SNO) as well as the licensing of 22 fixed wireless operators. Since the

GSM launch, mobile telephony has rapidly become the most popular method of


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voice communication in Nigeria. Growth has been so rapid that Nigeria has

been rightly described in various fora as "one of the fastest growing GSM

markets in the world". Indeed these developments have been truly explosive:

today Nigeria has about five million mobile lines and about one million fixed

lines, compared with just about 450,000 working lines from NITEL five years

ago.

But Nigeria's telecom infrastructure story and growth has not been due to GSM

alone. For example, GSM does not have much to do with the upsurge in internet

usage and access. In essence it is the combined activities of Nigeria's telecoms

providers. GSM, FWA, PTOs, telephony and VSAT operators and NCC's

regulatory efforts that has led to increased competition and availability of a

wide range of voice, data and internet applications and services. The

improvement in the telecom situation in Nigeria has made significant impact in

all sectors - commerce, social and educational. Although most of the impact is

presently felt only in the urban centers, NCC has announced plans to ensure the

telecomms revolution also touches the rural populace. As noted by one of the

International Telecommunications Union (ITU) publications, there is "a direct

correlation between access to telecommunications, economic wealth, and social

development".

The telecomm boom has resulted in greater usage of Internet Technology,

growth and availability of cyber cafs, increased internet provision by ISPs andPTOs, increased communications services (mobile telephony, e-mail, VOIP),

reduction of internet costs, online information gathering and research, e-

learning, Internet business opportunities, online advertising opportunities as

well as developments in e-banking. Growth has been phenomenal because

Nigerias size is massive and Nigerians have been starved of such access for

decades. A kind of, Thank God the drought is over experience. So, while


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there might be an IT or Telecomms downturn in the rest of the world, the ICT

sector in Africa especially in places like Nigeria continues to boom.

With the opening up of the telecom space further dramatic growth is expectedas service and reliability demands increase. However, in-depth penetration and

qualitative infrastructure growth is critical.

4.0 ENGINEERING INFRASTRUCTURE

Engineering Infrastructure is defined as those capabilities and physical plants

which are required to enable a prolific machine design and production to take

place. Prior to urbanization people lived simple lives with everybody

depending more or less on nature for survival; all that has changed, with

thousands, sometimes millions of people living together in a city, sharing

facilities. In most cases, these facilities have to be shared within the city andsometimes amongst cities. For the effective running of the cities, a functional

infrastructure must be provided. For example, adequate provision must be made

for transportation infrastructure to include land, sea and air. Further more land

infrastructural development will not be functional without roads, vehicles,

motor packs etc. For sea or water transport, there must be waterways, sea ports,

ships and vessels etc.

In providing power infrastructure, facilities such as generating stations,

transmission lines, distribution lines, switch gears, transformers, petroleum

extraction and distribution etc. must be provided within and amongst cities.

Educational infrastructure must provide schools, teachers, laboratories, libraries,

etc. the health infrastructure must include hospitals, health workers, drugs and

equipment, etc. Other infrastructures that must be provided include agriculture,


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social service, etc. The social service must provide adequate security and a

judicial and legislative framework for effective running of the city.

The existence and functionality of these infrastructures in a nation determines

her level of development. Thus the developed nations of the world are noted for

the high level of their existence and functionality of their infrastructure. These

nations have, over the years, developed their infrastructure base to a level where

they are abundantly available and effectively functional. Attributed to this is the

fact that they have the resources and the zeal to develop and sustain their

infrastructure. The resources they utilize are not only monetary but mostly in

terms of the skilled personnel, machinery and engineering materials required for

building and maintaining the infrastructures. The utilization of skilled

personnel, machinery and engineering materials could be referred to as

engineering infrastructure.

5.0 DEVELOPMENT OF ENGINEERING INFRASTRUCTURE IN

NIGERIA: NASENI MODEL

Nigeria depends heavily on imports and this has drastically affected our

infrastructural development. Our dependence on the developed nations hasinhibited the evolution of our own engineering infrastructural base.

Our complete and absolute dependence on other countries engineering

infrastructure has kept our nation in an aggravating debt trap and the only

means of escape is the urgent establishment and sustenance of our own

functional engineering infrastructural base. We must all accept the fact that

Nigeria must take deliberate steps to establish its own capability in the mass


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production of the equipment and machinery, which its growing economy

requires in large numbers.

However, while it is granted that the ready availability of machinery is what

makes the difference between high productivity and sustenance, between

reliability and dependence and between wealth and poverty, there are thousands

of machinery types which a modern economy utilizes. Obviously, the active

involvement of Government in the establishment of an engineering

infrastructure does not mean that Government should be actively involved in the

mass production of this innumerable number of types of machinery.[4]

This role of a functional engineering infrastructure base are numerous and must

include amongst others: providing the infrastructural base on which

industrialization and development can thrive; development of raw materials for

industries; new products development; innovations for improvement of

industrial fortunes; providing the engineering infrastructure for the industrialsector; providing machines and spare parts required by industries; providing the

equipment and machines required for rural development activities; evolution of

domestic technology capability in manufacturing; developing skilled human

resources and relevant manpower for the industrial sector; and conceptualisation

and construction of the different infrastructure required for development

activities.

In order to actualize these roles, Government has actually set up a good

Research and Development system for development of engineering and

technology in the country. The size of the research and development work going

on in the system in Nigeria can be assessed by the recent publication of profiles

of selected commercialisable research and development results and

publications. [5, 6]


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There are at least 66 different Research and Development institutions, excluding

tertiary institutions described in those publications with different mandates (See

Appendix A). One of the institutions devoted to the Development of

Engineering Infrastructure (EI) is the National Agency for Science and

Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI). The Agency was established in 1992 and

later as a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology

(FMS&T). It was set up to execute all aspects of the Science and Engineering

Infrastructure policy of the Federal Government of Nigeria. [7]

NASENIs mission is to establish and nurture an appropriate and dynamic

science and engineering infrastructure base for achieving home initiated and

home sustained industrialization process through the development of relevant

processes appropriate local machine design and machine building capabilities

for capital goods and equipment manufacture for job creation, national

economic well being and progress. Priority attention is given to seven broadeconomic areas namely; Engineering Materials, Chemical Materials, Scientific

Equipment, Electronics, Engineering Accessories, Power Equipment, Hydraulic

and Pneumatic Machinery and Engineering Tools. There is an engineering

design centre which is setup to develop design capacity relevant to these broad

economic areas.

The strategy for using NASENI to develop a functional Engineering

Infrastructure in Nigeria is illustrated in the figure below:


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Manufacturing Technologies are developed and tested in pilot plants at Science

and Engineering Development Institutes. Secondary plants (Satellite industries)

owned by the private sector spring up from the work of the Development

Institutes. Such industries mass-produce the technologies or the capital goods

developed at the Development Institutes. The tertiary plants (private sector)

would in time spring up to provide supplies to the secondary plants. At present,

NASENI operates seven Development Institutes across the country.

These Institutes are: Scientific Equipment Development Institute, Enugu (SEDI-

E); Scientific Equipment Development Institute, Minna (SEDI-M); Electronic

Development Institutes (ELDI) (formerly, Centre for Adaptation of Technology

(CAT)) Awka; Engineering Materials Development Institute (EMDI), Akure;

Hydraulic Equipment Development Institute (HEDI), Kano; National

Engineering Design Development Institute (NEDDI), Nnewi and Power

NASENI

Satellite

Industrie

Science & EIDevelopment

Institutes


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Equipment and Electrical Machines Development Institute (PEEMADI), Okene.

Two other Development Institutes: the Heavy Machinery and Equipment

Development Institute (HEMEDI) and Chemical Equipment and Machinery

Development Institute (CEMADI), are planned for Bauchi and Port Harcourt

respectively.

The role of NASENI should not be confused with that of other institutions set

up to develop prototypes of machines and processes. Ours is to ensure that the

Engineering Infrastructure required to translate the innovations into commercial

capital goods are available and functional. When these are developed, they are

transferred to the private sector. The model used is the hybrid technology

development and diffusion of the demand pull model and the technology push

model. [8, 9]

6.0 ENGINEERING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR NATIONAL

DEVELOPMENTPROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Innovations and inventions thrive on availability of adequate and functional

Engineering Infrastructure. Indeed no nation can develop without an adequate

and functional Engineering Infrastructure. So it goes to say that thedevelopment and sustenance of a sound and functional Engineering

Infrastructural base is actually the Development of Nigeria. In the process of

developing the engineering infrastructural base for the country, there will be

problems which will generate opportunities.

Therefore, in order to develop the Engineering Infrastructure, all the differing

stakeholders must take active participation. The role of NASENI is to provide


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Reluctance of industries to invite R&D institutions to solve theirproblems;

Difficulties in commercializing R&D results; Absence of a technology culture in the society; Very difficult and inconsistent economic environment for engineering

operations.

Poor power and utilities supplies. [10, 11, 12, 13, 14]

6.1 Reverse Engineering Programme

Many of the machines required for a functional EI are already in existence

outside the country. In order to avoid attempting to reinvent the wheel, one

option is to use reverse engineering to domesticate technologies. This approach

involves acquiring an imported machine, tearing it apart and redesigning it.

The redesign will include producing parts drawing and manufacturing layout

such that any fabricator or manufacturer can produce it. This concept has been

successfully used to replicate and proliferate some machines within the

NASENI family. At present work is in progress in using reverse engineering to

reproduce the following machines: single axle tractor, potato processing plant,

interlocking brick making machine and small hydro power equipments. There is

already a success story on the reverse engineering of the seed oil expeller. The

prototype oil expeller is now available and has been used to produce groundnut

oil and palm kernel oil. The manufacturing layout is available and would bepublished at an Investors Forum which would be organised soon.

6.2 Industrial Cluster Programme

The role of industrial clusters in technology development has been

acknowledged by many. In Nigeria, industrial clusters have been identified in a

number of areas including Lagos, Ibadan, Kano, Kaduna, Onitsha/Nnewi andAba [12]. A number of Agencies of government and those of international


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organizations (UNIDO, UNDP) have been involved in assisting these clusters

for further development. There is need for more work in assisting these clusters

to achieve their maximum potentials. It appears that some of these clusters

evolved on their own. Efforts need to be directed towards establishing more

clusters in areas with the potential. The continuous development of industrial

clusters is a sure way to develop and maintain Engineering Infrastructure (EI).

6.3 Technology Incubation Centres/ Science Parks

The establishment of viable Technology Incubation Centres (TICs) and Science

Parks is another way of ensuring that a functional EI base emerges. Attempts

have been made in the past to encourage the establishment of TICs but their

performance has not been as expected. In order to revitalize the TIC

programme, the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology recently started a

process of restructuring and revitalizing TICs in the country. Currently, there is

a new Board for Technology Incubation which is now in charge of managing

the existing TICs and establishing new ones. At NASENI, efforts are underwayto establish a TIC which will be the avenue for commercializing technologies

developed by the NASENI family and in fact other R&D organizations. Some

state governments, including the FCT administration are also working towards

establishing Science Parks.

6.4 Satellite Industries ProgrammeClosely related to the TIC concept is the satellite industry development concept.

As noted earlier, satellite industries are supposed to spring up from the

technological advancement of NASENI development centres. The idea is that

private sector firms can establish new industries based on products of research

from research institutes. Such industries, of course, require some incentives

since most of the projects may not be immediately economically viable and may

be high risk areas where entrepreneurs will be reluctant to invest in. Presently,


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efforts are underway, to establish risk funds where potential industrialists can

draw from.

6.5 Promotion of Local Content in Industrial Machinery

Most industrial machinery in Nigeria is imported. This is because, at present,

the engineering infrastructure required for producing these machines are not in

existence. Efforts are therefore under way to have a sustainable system for

encouraging a progressive increase in industrial machinery content. This will

require an understanding with manufacturers and industrialists. Projects can

start with local production of spare parts and gradually graduate into the design

and fabrication of individual units of process lines and complete process lines.

NASENI is already working with some industries towards achieving this goal.

6.6 Investment in Emerging Technology Development

As Nigeria is battling with the development of what the developed world may

regard as conventional technologies, the rest of the world is moving ahead withemerging technologies, thus further widening the technological divide.

Therefore, as we struggle to develop the fundamental EI required for existing

industries, we must work to establish the EI of tomorrow which are required for

sustainable development and use of emerging technologies. These emerging

technologies include biotechnology, ICT, Nanotechnology, Space and Satellite

Technology, New Materials, Robotics, CAD/CAM, Virtual ManufacturingSystems, etc. Since these areas are capital intensive, there must be a special

funding for the development of the EI required for these technologies.

Currently, NASENI is working towards establishing such EI in the areas of

nanotechnology, advanced materials, ICT components, CAD/CAM, virtual

manufacturing. Other parastatals of the FMST are also working to develop

other areas.


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6.7 Development Programme for SMEs

For SMEs to fulfil their role as the engine of growth in the Nigerian economy,

their operations must be technology driven. NASENI has articulated the draft

policy on Development of Basic Technologies for Empowering SMEs. The

policy among others is aimed at: promoting interactive actions and participatory

programmes that will generate the emergence of relevant technologies and

engineering infrastructure for the SME subsector and promote integrated R&D

activities in support of the critical technological needs of SMEs. One of the

projects under this programme include mineral processing, agricultural products

processing, leather and wood processing, metal fabrication and casting, etc.

6.8 Proactive Advisory Role Engineering Infrastructural Development

For Nigerian infrastructure to be developed and maintained appropriately there

is need for different levels of government and major parastatals to be

professionally advised in a proactive manner. NASENI and other parastatals of

FMST offer high quality advisory service in the areas of appraisal, planning,execution and monitoring of major infrastructural projects. These include major

projects such as TAM of refineries, LNG project, etc. Where the required

expertise is not within the NASENI system, the plan is to engage the right type

of skilled personnel from anywhere in the world.

6.9 Upgrading of Mechanic VillagesIn most major cities in Nigeria, the maintenance and repair of vehicles are done

at mechanic villages. These centres which are usually designated by

government are actually run by private mechanics. A visit to any of these

centres shows that most of them, in addition to maintenance of vehicles, are

actually centres for engineering activities of different types. A closer look at the

centers will also reveal the fact that most of the centers lack relevant machine

tools which would have enabled them to do much more engineering work. It is


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therefore necessary to study and upgrade these villages into industrial layouts

(or clusters) by providing the required facilities for productive engineering

work. Similar work can be done with other technology villages such as:

Computer village and GSM village in some cities.

6.10 Productive Use of Patents

There are over 40 million patents available over the internet. Most of them are

already in the public domain. One of the mandates of NASENI is the assessing

and re-packaging of information pertinent to manufacturing and process

technologies as a service to SMEs. Such a methodology engenders innovation,

quickens turn around time from ideas to the market place, thus allowing goods

to be globally competitive.

7.0 NASENI PROGRAMMES IN EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

In addition to our role to midwife and collaborate with other stakeholders in

actualizing the programmes listed above, NASENI is presently pursuing

programmes aimed at developing capacity and acquiring emerging technologies

which will fast-track the pace of technology and business in this and next

century [15].

These programmes are:

7.1 Advanced Manufacturing Technology

The focus of the Agency is a paradigm shift from the conventional

manufacturing technology to an Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT).


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The ultimate purpose of Advanced Manufacturing Technology is to create

wealth in Nigeria.

Because of the importance the Agency attached to this, a National Workshop

was held in April, 2006 in Abuja and papers were presented on some key areas

of the AMT relevant to the national needs.

(a) Virtual Manufacturing Laboratory(VML)

The process of machinery development is tedious and unpredictable using the

classical design and development approaches. With globalization and the ICTrevolution, design, simulation and development of engineering systems are

becoming more deterministic.

Virtual Manufacturing (VM) is the vital life-line of the advanced

manufacturing technology revolution. It comprises of a process of tests and

experiments on super-computers known as Advanced Modeling andSimulations (MS), which is used by industries in the developed countries to

replace expensive manufacturing and equipment tests. VM can play a critical

role in the strategic fulfilments of the goal of Nigeria on science and

engineering infrastructure development, industrialization, poverty eradication

and national economic wealth generation. The only way to compete in the

global market is to provide quality goods and equipment. Quality goods are

produced through process reviews, developmental projects and targeted

researches. The cost of these analyses, researches and projects may be

prohibitive for an underdeveloped or a developing nation like Nigeria, but if the

costs are reduced sufficiently, it is possible to embark upon these meaningful

activities that are targeted at quality products. Virtual Manufacturing can reduce

the cost of manufacturing investigation and validation activities by 2 to 20

times, depending on product costs, making it affordable for Nigeria.


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Globalization has greatly expanded the availability of new markets, while

simultaneously spurring intense competition in all manufacturing sectors. New

technologies enable developing and developed economies to design, build,

distribute and support new and improved products with speed and quality not to

be believed just 2 decades ago. The goal of Virtual Manufacturing innovation is

to improve or revolutionize the manufacturing process and equipment from

requirement stage to design and production stage.

To achieve this aim, a massive investment in software development engineering

is imperative. In the traditional sense it is easy to overlook software

development when considering infrastructure development. In fact, the

development and management of software will account for as much as 25% of

technology development in the new millennium. It might also help to identify

who the competitors are. The president perceptibly alluded to this fact, and

vigorously encouraged the Nation to develop a software infrastructure, in hisTuesday, October 12th, 2004 address to the nation on the 2005 budget proposal.

NASENI headquarters has currently developed a Virtual Manufacturing

Laboratory which will provide state of the art hardware, software and

intellectual capacity for design, engineering simulation, and computer modeling

of engineering processes, plants, machinery and spares. This will ensure rapidprototyping and hence reduce time and money required from moving from

conceptual design to pilot scale plant development.

The VML is a suite of three facilities located at the Headquarter of the Agency:

The VML, the High-Power Computing Centre and the Information Technology

and Communication Centre (ITCC). The Virtual Manufacturing Laboratory

(VML) provides the state of the art hardware, software and intellectual capacity


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for design, engineering simulation, and computer modeling of engineering

processes, plants, machinery, spares, moulds and dies. The High-Power

Computer Laboratory will provide opportunities for engineers and scientists all

over the nation to send in (through web) to the main node, their complex

works/designs/calculations for processing. The node sends the work to the dual

processing clusters for solution and then back to the main node which sends

back the solution to the client. The ITCC will be linked to our e-library and

provides access to latest books/journals/periodicals/patents all over the world.

The facility will serve as a national resource in engineering manufacturing and

will be available to the R&D community in Nigeria as well as the SME sector,

engineering firms and capacity development.

(b) Computer Aided Design and Computer Aided Manufacturing

(CAD/CAM)

Computer Aided Design (CAD) is the use of a wide range of computer-basedtools that assist engineers, architects and other design professionals in their

design activities. It is used to design, develop and optimise products, which can

be goods used by end consumers or intermediate goods used in other products.

It is a very powerful tool that offers industry the ability to save time and tedium

in the drawing office, produce better designs and faster quotations and to

provide automatic machine tool control from a design produced on a computer.

With the use of a specially prepared software packages to run on the computer,

this offers an aid to engineers of all disciplines, and when integrated with other

systems, CAD becomes a comprehensive tool to form a link throughout an

engineering industry. Thus, CAD is a combination of techniques in which man

and machine are blended into a problem solving team, intimately coupling the

best characteristics of each.


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Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) may be defined as the use of computer

system to plan, manage and control the operations of a manufacturing plant

through either direct or indirect computer interface with the plants production

resources. CAD/CAM must be interfaced in order to achieve technology-based

improvement in manufacturing and continually improved productivity quality.

One of the constraints to industrial machinery development in Nigeria is that

most machinery producers are actually road side fabricators. Many a time,

proper engineering drawings and design are not used. The result is that the

machines are fabricated without using the best practices. Our programme in

modern design facilities encourages the use of proper engineering design and

drawings, which emphasizes good choice of materials, manufacturing layout,

procedure and standardization of components and parts. That is, machines will

have standard components, which can be manufactured by another entrepreneur.

The overall effect will be lower cost of the machines, and good quality control.

The Agencys Headquarters and all its Development Institutes are being

equipped with CAD/CAM Training Centres and Computer Numerical Control

(CNC) Milling, Turning and Electronic Discharge Machines. This will include

the necessary software required for modern design. For these software, the

Agency had acquired six (6) site licenses; and each of these sites can

accommodate 500 licenses. This means that we can conveniently load thesoftware in at least ten (10) personal computers in all tertiary institutions in

Nigeria.

These are facilities that will revolutionise the manufacturing industry in Nigeria.

These facilities will be used for capacity building of SMEs in the use of modern

design and manufacturing techniques to ensure that products meet international

standards and can compete globally.


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Indeed the Agency is investing on human capacity in various areas of Advanced

Manufacturing Technology VML, CAD/CAM, CNC operations, etc. The

objective is to develop personnel in these areas who will be available to provide

engineering solutions to organizations world-wide.

(B1) Reverse Engineering

Reverse engineering is the general process of analyzing an object in order to

determine how it was designed or how it operates. Reverse engineering is not

confined to any particular purpose, but is often used as a part of a company's

research and development. The process of taking something apart and revealing

the way in which it works is often an effective way to learn how to build a new

product or make improvements to an existing product.

To reverse engineer, a researcher gathers data needed to document the

specifications of a product or part by performing a product inspection. Reverse

engineering allows researchers to understand both the form and structure of an

object and any aspects causing it --or the product it is apart of -- to malfunction.

When a product is engineered, the process begins with an idea that, working

forward, becomes a product. When something is reverse engineered, the

process begins with a product that, when examined reveals, ideas and other

concepts used to create it. Reverse engineering aims to duplicate the product inorder to modify or enhance the original product design.

The Agency is currently involved in various reverse engineering projects in

which a number of machines and processes are being developed after re-

designing thereby developing requisite skills and technology in their

manufacture and mass production.


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Accelerate industrial growth and the transformation of the nations rawmaterials into useful products.

Provide the right indigenous machinery and equipment used forprocessing of raw materials. Currently, these equipments are highly

fragmented with deficiencies in major supporting industries such as the

foundry, forging, heavy & precision machining, tooling design and

fabrication.

Enable designers validate their creations and gain confidence in theirwork, which would be exploited by the SMEs.

Provide investors/entrepreneurs a unique opportunity to see physically theworkability of the product/equipment/processes they wish to

commercialize and thereby increase their confidence in the product.

It will put to rest the issues of risk and fear that are always expressed bythe potential private investors/entrepreneurs as they will now have the

opportunity to view such products on display as guaranteed and market

ready.

Address the shortage of qualified and competent technical personnelencompassing skilled labour, technicians, supervisors, engineers,

metallurgists, and engineering based managers which has been a critical

bottleneck in the industries, especially in design & manufacturing of

process equipment needed for Nigeria raw materials.

It will provide high quality post-graduate training and capacity buildingfor the industry.

Help industries to improve their design and product development activityby reducing design cycle time and eliminating error early in design stage

and ensuring the quality of goods produced.

Assist SMEs, Research Institutes and tertiary institutions in their capacitydevelopment and in R & D work.


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(c ) Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is the Science and Technology of materials and appliances that

are of the size in the range of a billionth of a meter (precisely nanometer = 10-9

meter, 10 Angstroms). This situation has been described by C.N. Rao, FRS, a

distinguished world renowned Professor, as akin to having 1000 CDs in a

wristwatch.

In other words, Nanotechnology is the creation and utilization of materials,

devices, and systems through the control of matter on the nanometer-length

scale. That is, at the level of atoms, molecules, and supermolecular structures. It

is a highly multidisciplinary field, drawing from fields such as colloidal science,

device physics and supramolecular chemistry.

Nanotechnology is one of the emerging technology areas where Nigeria is

lacking in expertise. It is classified in the same group as ICT and biotechnology.

Already, the technology is being used in advanced economies of the WEST and

SOUTH-EAST Asia, to create high technology industries in areas of

electronics, medicine, development of new materials and space.

Nanotechnology has been identified as one of the technologies of the future for

Nigeria. This is therefore the time to key into the global network of research

and development efforts. NASENI has been charged with this responsibility.

The technology has potential applications in energy, medicine (diagnosis and

treatment of diseases and environmental ills), nano-porus materials for water

filtration, agriculture, electronic, etc.


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It is also noteworthy that the immediate past President of the Federal Republic

of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR, has in the Science and

Technology retreat held on the 17th August 2006, approved Nanotechnology as

the fourth leg of the national development policy on Science and Technology.

The other three are Biotechnology, Information and Communication

Technology and Space Technology.

A two-day workshop on Nigerian Nanotechnology Initiatives was organized on

June 8 & 9 this year by NASENI. At the end of the workshop sub-committees

were set up to draw up a road map for the successful take off of Nigerias

Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials Programme. The committees are in

the following areas:

Nanomedicine Nanoelectronics Nanostructured and Nanoporous materials

7.3 Other Areas Of Technological Development

The Agency has made giants strides in other areas of engineering infrastructure

in the last two years.

7.2.1 Solar Cell Production

A joint venture project with a foreign partner is being executed to establish a

solar panel manufacturing facility in Nigeria using the Amorphous Silicon

concept and the use of Polymer electronics. The establishment of this solar cell

manufacturing plant in Nigeria will result to the following applications amongst

others: Domestic/street lighting, Water Pumping for Irrigation purposes, Power


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repeater stations and telecommunication booster station, Power traffic light,

small scale processing of farm products, and other applications in off-grid areas.

7.2.2 Solar Lighting

The Installation of the Solar Lighting system has been completed for the

NASENI HQ. This provides light for the perimeter and other strategic areas of

the HQ building.

These facilities are being extended to all our Development Institutes. For

example EMDI-Akures solar lighting system has been completed. Other

Institutes will follow soon.

7.2.3 Establishment of Mini-Foundry in Tertiary Institutions

Although the Rotary Furnace was designed, developed and manufactured at

EMDI, the Agency has assisted in distributing these to some higher institutions

of learning across the country, with funding from Education Trust Fund (ETF).

The Agency has undertaken so far the refurbishment and resuscitation of

foundry facilities in 11 tertiary institutions. Similarly the Agency has

established Mini-Foundries by the provision of 100Kg Rotary Furnaces in 14

Tertiary Institution. The current phase involves the distribution of 62 rotary

furnaces to tertiary institutions in the country.

7.3.4 Science Kits

The Agency started with the Primary Science Kit (PSK). PSK was developed to

ensure that the practical aspect of the Federal Ministry of Educations

curriculum for Primary Science, a 1991 publication; Core Curriculum for

Primary Science, was achieved.


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For months, NASENI team of facilitators trained teachers in the six geo-

political zones of the Federation in the use of the kit for training pupils in

Primary Science. At the end of each training workshop, 20 pieces of PSK was

given to each participating state and FCT. This project is being planned for 50%

of Nigerian primary schools in a scheme involving donors being coordinated by

UNESCO, Paris. However, 25 more rotary furnaces are to be built in

collaboration with ETF and distributed to Institutions.

NASENI has gone ahead to develop a Science kit for the Junior Secondary

Schools.

7.3.5 Human Capacity Development in Engineering Design and

Development

(i) In collaboration with United National Industrial Development Organisation(UNIDO), National Engineering Design Development Instiitute, (NEDDI)Nnewi successfully conducted the following training programmes:

Advanced Engineering Drawing and Design Fittings Computer Aided Design using the AUTOCAD

Foundry Technology (Ferrous and non-ferrous)

More than 20 different participants attended each of the training programme

which was meant to develop engineering design and development for

participants drawn from SMEs around Nnewi Engineering Cluster.

(ii) The Young Graduates in Manufacturing (YGM) and the CollaborativeManufacturing Scheme (CMS) continued to generate interest among


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stakeholders. The YGM program is designed as a refresher course in most

vital areas that will inject design and manufacturing confidence in the mind

of young graduates. The CMS program initiated by NEDDI was to

collaborate with local machine shops and fabricators in both Nnewi and

Aba using their available infrastructure to manufacture component parts

and equipment working hand in hand with our engineers.

(iii) In-house and oversea training programme were undertaken on AUTOCAD,AUTODESK INVENTOR, SOLID WORKS and other computer packages

to prepare staff for the paradigm shift to Advanced Manufacturing and

Advanced Material Technology.

(iv) NEDDI won the bid to redesign and fabricate equipments for some otherparastatals.

8.0 PROBLEMS AND CONSTRAINTS OF R&D IN NIGERIA WITH

SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE MILITARY.

The problems militating against the growth and effectiveness of military R&D

activities in Nigeria are multifaceted. They have been highlighted in many

publications and some of them are highlighted below. These problems are

general. They are not limited to Military alone.

Lack of adequate funding for development work: Military R&D by its nature

is expensive. It therefore requires serious budgetary allocations to enable those

involved to take on serious problems facing technology acquisition and

development by the NAF. Unfortunately, feelers from the key players indicate


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that the R&D unit in the NAF is not well funded. With little or no funds, the

already established R&D units are more or less administrative units with little or

no substantial projects to carry out. Yet every year, millions of Naira is spent for

importatation of military hardware and software.

Poor Power and Utilities Supply: The issue of poor power and utilities supply

is one of the major problems confronting industrial development in the country

today. For the military, which deals in heavy duty machinery and sensitive

instrumentation and controls, this problem is even more serious. Some of the

military establishments have tried to address this problem by generating their

own power, water and building and maintaining their feeder roads, but a visit to

any of the sites shows that this cannot provide a long term solution and they are

not equipped to take on some of these activities.

Lack of Private Sector Participation in Military R&D: The private sector

has been established as a more efficient manager of business. The level ofparticipation of the private sector in military R&D and industrial complexes

development is low. The private sector sees the development of military

technology as government business. But this should not be so. In developed

countries, some of the R&D work done by the military are actually contracted

out to the private sector. On their own part, some private sector organizations

abroad get involved in military R&D in order to develop technologies that canbe sold to the military establishment.

Inconsistent Government Policies: Government has a policy of encouraging

local development of technologies, including military technology. On the other

hand, when the government wants to acquire substantial amounts of

technologies, it allows vendors to source the technologies from abroad. Such

inconsistent policies discourage the development of local capacity for


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development of technologies and manufacture of military hard and software.

Part of the reason for this apparent inconsistency is that there is no formal

Government Policy on Military Technology Development. The modest

achievement recorded by Biafrans during the civil war can be attributed to the

fact that a policy on local development of needed military technology was

articulated and pursued vigorously with a time bound task and target driven

approach.

Unfair Competition by Imported Military Products: The existing military

R&D and industrial complexes suffer the same problem of unfair competition

by imported technologies. With the globalization phenomenon, access to

technologies for production is supposed to be worldwide. However, the fact of

the matter is that their foreign counterparts operate in economic environments

where there are engineering infrastructure and financial muscle for R&D work

and for industrial production. Thus Nigerian military industrial complexes

cannot produce products that can compete fairly with imported alternatives interms of quality, quantity and price.

Use of Outdated Technologies for Production: A visit to any of the military

R&D and Industrial Complexes shows that they operate with outdated

technologies. In some cases, equipment acquired over two decades ago are still

in use. Although with a good maintenance culture, most of the equipment arestill functioning, they can not be used to produce competitive products of

todays world. Development and production of new products with such facilities

are out of the question.

Lack of Accurate and Relevant Data Base: One of the problems confronting

Nigeria generally is lack of development data. This problem is probably due to

the fact that IT facilities are still at their infancy. Many establishments do not


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take the issue of data collection and dissemination very seriously. Thus it is still

a problem for R&D personnel to generate and use required data for research,

development and production.

Lack of Research and Development Equipment: Associated with the use of

outdated production technologies is the gross inadequacy of R&D equipment in

all military installations. By their nature, these equipment are imported and

expensive. With years of neglect, the workshops and laboratories are currently

without the required modern facilities for meaningful R&D work.

Lack of Emphasis on Dual Use of Technologies: One of the ways the

developed countries succeeded in developing military technology is to consider

the dual use nature of some technologies. Some technologies have both military

and civilian applications. These include transport (land, sea and air),

communication, information, space, manufacturing, medical and educational

technologies. Therefore, resources can be pulled together to benefit fromsynergies. Some technologies which currently have more civil applications

actually originated from the military in developed countries. In Nigeria, such

potentials are not yet tapped mainly due to the lack of collaboration between the

military and civil authorities.

Lack of Collaboration with Civil R&D and Industrial Complexes: There islittle or no collaboration between civil and military R&D and industrial

complexes as of today. Most of the civil Institutions for R&D work and

industrial complexes are under the Ministries of Science and Technology,

Industry and Agriculture. The military institutions are under the Ministry of

Defense. There is no formal interaction between these two groups. This

situation robs the country of huge savings and progress which would have been

achieved if workshops, laboratories, personnel etc are shared in joint projects.


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9.0 NIGERIAN NATIONAL POLICY ON RESEARCH AND

DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION

The Policy on Research and Development (R&D) in Nigeria is entrenched in

the National Policy on Science and Technology, a publication of the Federal

Ministry of Science and Technology.

The Federal Ministry of Science and Technology which was established in 1980

by an Act (No. 1) of Parliament, is mandated to carry out the following primary

functions amongst others:

Formulation, monitoring and review of the national policy on science andtechnology;

Promotion and coordination of scientific and technological research; Promotion and administration of technology acquisition, adaptation and

transfer;

Promotion and coordination of national production of scientific andtechnological goods and services;

Promotion and coordination of development of scientific andtechnological infrastructures;

Promotion and coordination of integrated, (that is, human, infrastructuraland institutional) scientific and technological capacity building; and

Establishment and maintenance of relations with national andinternational, public and private scientific and technological

organizations.

In order to guide the implementation of its mandate, the Ministry in 1986,

produced a National Science and Technology Policy Document. In time, it

became necessary to review the document; hence in 2003 a draft of the revised

S&T Policy was produced. The 2003 draft policy document was widely

circulated in order to receive reactions from as many stakeholders as possible


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before submitting it for ratification by the Federal Executive Council. The

revised policy document includes a background for each policy focus, the policy

statement, strategies for short, medium and long term plans, a work plan and

budget. The following Table gives a summary of Nigeria Science and

Technology Policy:

S/No. POLICY FOCUS POLICY STATEMENT

1. BIOTECHNOLOGY Government shall, as a matter of priority, initiate

appropriate steps to explore the use of

Biotechnology for the benefit of Nigerians and thus

ensure that Nigeria becomes one of the international

leaders in Biotechnology, through the provision of

an enabling environment that responds to the needs

of biotech industry, the R&D communities and therelevant national and international concerns.

2. LINKAGE OF FMST

UNIVERSITIES,

NATIONAL AND

INTERNATIONAL

RESEARCH

INSTITUTES.

The nation shall promote R&D efforts that are

focused on priority projects, which address national

needs.

The nation shall put in place a mechanism for

coordinating science and technology R&D efforts

in such a way that link the Federal Ministry of

Science and Technology with Universities, national

and international research institutes, in a productive

manner.

3. HUMAN CAPACITY

BUILDING OF

The nation shall through research and develop

create the necessary environment, incentives and


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NIGERIANS IN, AND

TRANSFER OF

TECHNOLOGY BY

MULTINATIONAL

COMPANIES.

penalties for promoting technology transfer by the

multinationals, while at the same time promote the

provision of necessary infrastructures for

technology absorption by Nigerians.

4. ENERGY RESEARCH

AND DEVELOPMENT

The nations energy resources shall be developed

and utilized on a self-sustaining basis through

research development and profitable application.

5. COOPERATION OF

FEDERAL

GOVERNMENT

MINISTRIES AND

THE FMST ON THE

IMPLEMENTATION

AND FUNDING OF S

& T BASED CAPITALPROJECTS AT

FEDERAL, STATE

AND LOCAL

GOVERNMENT

LEVELS.

The Federal Ministry of Science and Technology

has the mandate for advancement of Science and

Technology and its activities have direct bearing on

the activities of cognate Ministries such as the

Ministries of Agriculture, Health, Industry,

Environment, Education, Communications, Power

and Steel, Water Resources, Solid Mineral

Development, Works and Housing to mention afew.

The Policy therefore intends to address the missing

link in ensuring adequate funding and proper co-

ordination of S & T related projects wherever they

are found in the Federation, while ensuring the

understanding and cooperation of all Stakeholdersat all levels of Governments.

6. SPACE RESEARCH Nigeria shall vigorously pursue the attainment of

Space Capabilities as an essential tool for its socio-

economic development and the enhancement of the

quality of life of its people.


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7. APPROPRIATE

TECHNOLOGIES FOR

EMPOWERING

SMALL

AND MEDIUM-

SCALE

ENTERPRISES (SMEs)

Government shall facilitate and ensure the

emergence of a large pool of technologically

empowered SMEs as a means of achieving

sustainable economic growth, eradicating poverty

and play a key role in global economy.

Government shall ensure an increase of the national

Manufacturing Value Added (MVA) from the

present level of $17 per capita to $100 per capita.

This will entail fostering, promoting and sustaining

the provision of assistance to the nations SMEs in

the areas of infrastructure, technical and business

extension services, testing facilities as well as

product and process research and development

services.

8. ENGINEERING

MATERIALSDEVELOPMENT

Government shall ensure effective utilisation of the

knowledge of Materials Science, Engineering andTechnology to establish a pervasive mastery of

materials development and applications for the

transformation of Nigeria from a

primarily natural resource-based economy to an

industrial giant within a decade

9. SCIENCE ANDTECHNOLOGY DATA

BANK

The policy statement seeks to ensure that Scienceand Technology is managed with a view to

optimizing the use of national resources including

human capital and to facilitate decision-making at

national and international levels.

The National Science and Technology Policy will

provide guidelines to:


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Facilitate the development of S&Tinformation management systems.

Provide reliable, up-to-date data on availablehuman and material resources in the various

S&T disciplines.

Develop coordinated distributed networks ofS&T databases with appropriate links using

internationally accepted standard and format

for online local and international access.

To ensure optimal utilization of resourcesand seamless access to S&T data from within

and outside the country.

10. INFORMATION

TECHNOLOGY

The Policy is to make Nigeria an IT capable

country in Africa and key player in the information

society by the year 2005 using IT as the engine forsustainable development and global

competitiveness as well as for wealth creation, and

poverty eradication.

In 1999, whilst the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo visited the

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)Headquarters in Paris, he requested from the organization, technical assistance

for bring about a comprehensive reform in Nigerias Science, Technology and

Innovation (S,T & I) system. The Federal government has now embarked on the

reform of Science and Technology and Innovation (S,T & I) systems. This

project is coordinated by UNESCO, Paris with some financial aid from the

Japanese Government. The reform project, amongst others, aims at restructuring

the S&T Infrastructure in Nigeria. While the Federal Government has


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contributed $1,000,000.00 to the project, the Japanese Government has released

$1,000,000.00 aid to the project.

When successfully completed, would lay a solid foundation for a more

productive role for science, technology and innovation systems in Nigeria and

ensure a productive national Economy for improved quality of life for our

people.

9.1 Funding Of Research and Development (R & D) in Nigeria

Funding of R & D has been a challenge. The Federal Government policies vide

the National Science and Technology Fund (NSTF) provides that 20% of the

education tax and 50% of tax on foreign technology transfer fees be committed

to the promotion and enhancement of R & D activities in the country. It has also

been proposed that 2-5% of GDP or 5% of Annual Budget or 2% of Federation

Account be allocated for S & T activities effective from 2002 Annual Budget.In 2004, only 1% of the total national recurrent and capital expenses was

allocated for Science and Technology. However, since 2005 the situation has

improved.

The following are funding sources exploitable for R & D activities:

i. Regular Budgetary AllocationR & D Institutes request for funds for on-going and new projects in their annual

budget proposa

Documents

War College 2007