The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has blamed the absence of a functional steel company in the country for the stunted industrial growth.
Speaking at the 12th Raw Materials Research and Development Council’s Techno Expo, which opened in Abuja on Wednesday, the President, MAN, Dr. Frank Jacobs, said the nation needed to break off from its dependence on imported technologies to be able to reposition the economy.
He said, “The inability of the country to set up a functional steel company, which would have served as a spin-off and catalyst for the development of core engineering projects, including technological equipment and processes, posed a major challenge to technology development in the country.
“Lack of patronage has been a major challenge to local technology as both the government and private enterprises are reluctant to patronise indigenous technologies, thereby depriving them of the opportunity to improve their capacities and expand their production. The result is the erosion of confidence of indigenous technology promoters and consequent over-reliance on imported technologies.
“As a country whose natural endowment and people are the basis of her strength, there is a need for us, both in the government and the private sector, to take appropriate steps to address the challenges in order to break the cycle of dependence on imported technology. It must be said that any country that depends solely on imported technology will find it difficult to industrialise and remain competitive.”
Jacobs urged corporate entities and individuals to complement the government’s efforts by instituting endowment funds in higher institutions purposely for research into local technologies, adding that the outcome of such research efforts could be commercialised by the sponsoring institution in order to boost the endowment funds.
The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, said the government of President Muhammadu Buhari had resolved to employ the nation’s technologies and innovative systems to advance the economy.
He acknowledged that several governments in the past had pledged the diversification of the economy, but added that the fruits of the current efforts = would begin to show in a short while.
Also speaking at the event, a former Minister of National Planning, Prof. Osita Ogbu, said the current policy encouraging assembly plants in the automobile industry would collapse if it was not integrated into the country’s innovative system.