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Mrs. Pauline Tallen is the chairman, Board of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, (RMRDC).....
Mrs. Pauline Tallen is the chairman, Board of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, (RMRDC).
A former Minister of State for Science and Technology, she is worried by the state of the manufacturing industry in Nigeria, especially the inability of indigenous firms to tie their projects to research.
She said the absence of research has been responsible for the death of so many indigenous industries.
Tallen, in an interview with Daily Sun, was of the opinion that local manufacturing firms, should tie up their projects to research as that was the best way to keep innovating and upgrading their products to meet contemporary needs.
She also decries the attitude of Nigerians to made-in-Nigerian goods, saying it was responsible for the low purchasing of locally made goods.
According to her, the complaints on the poor quality and standards of locally made goods was faulty and a generalization. Standards and quality, she said, have improved, particularly in the last six years.
"We have so many made-in-Nigerian goods that are even of higher standards than the imported ones," she said.
According to her, the local industry would never peak until Nigerians begin to be patriotic by patronizing locally made goods.
She also spoke on the state of the electrical and electronics industry in Nigeria.
Manufacturing sector
The state of the manufacturing sector may not be good. I am applauding the reforms of the present government as they affect the ban on imports into the country. If you don't learn to make use of what you have, you can never move forward. You will forever remain a dependent and consumer nation and I don't think our children and grand children will ever forgive us for remaining a dependent nation when others are going into manufacturing.
People don't even know that we are producing and manufacturing a lot of products in this country. So, we even need to start advertising our products and ourselves. We should blow our trumpets. We should tell people what we have done and make them believe in our potentialities. We have to be convincing.
This is what has been lacking in the industry. Zinox and Omatek Computers organized an exhibition when they came on stream and invited the president and top government functionaries. The president was so impressed that he ordered that all government establishments should patronize their products. That's why today, these companies seem to be enjoying government patronage. So, we need to advertise ourselves because if you don't tell people what you are doing, they will not know you.
Quality
People complain about quality and I say go and look at the science equipment that are produced here in Nigeria and you will notice that they are even better than those that are imported. We should believe in ourselves, that we can produce and manufacture goods in this country with high standard also.
Government is giving all the needed support to entrepreneurs by creating the enabling environment, banning importation of so many goods that can be manufactured locally. But government cannot do everything. Rome, they say, was not built in a day. We don't have any other country except Nigeria. So, let us believe in our country and pray for our country.
Mr. President had done well by closing the borders like the Asian tigers of Japan and Korea did. You cannot get there except by looking inward and believing in yourself, that you can do it and even improve in standard.
So, what the president is doing will help us improve on what we have as we have no option than looking inward. We will look at our raw materials now and I appeal to all Nigerians to accept the fact that we can do better than most of these countries that are importing junks into our country, as what we produce even now is better than these imported junks.
Research and development
The Ministry of Industry has a lot of work to do and a big role to play in research and development (R&D) in the country.
R&D is important and so the Federal Government has been giving a lot of assistance and encouragement to Nigerian universities and polytechnics and even private R&D firms. They have produced some fantastic researches in the last couple of years. In fact, at present, we are looking at how to commercialize some of these researches. I appeal particularly to manufacturers that in whatever they are manufacturing they should please carry R&D along. They should tie up all their projects with R&D experts. It is lack of proper research that has been responsible for the closure of most of the manufacturing firms in Nigeria. It is only through research that you identify problems and work out how to correct, improve and grow in whatever discipline. We must, therefore, go back to research and development.
Electrical business
The electrical and electronics industry has been in the forefront of technological development across the world. It has opened up a new vista of opportunities in many other industries such as the aviation, military and automotive industries. The possibilities are enormous and countries, which have been able to play on the business stage of this industry, have used the opportunity to propel development at a terrific speed.
Products from this industry have varied from household equipment to heavy industrial and military hardware.
The fierce competition has resulted in products, which previously could only be imagined.
Sadly, Nigeria is not yet among the major players in this industry. The early beginning by indigenous companies such, as Adebowale Electrical Industries were not sustained. The indigenous brands, which were the products of these efforts, could not be supported with local technological capacity as Nigeria lost the opportunity of being a notable player in the industry.
Science and technology
The growth of the electrical and electronics industry in Nigeria cannot be divorced from the development of science and technology. Science and technology offers the platform for sustainable development and inadequate attention to science and technology development will immediately impact on the growth of industries.
The human capacity needs to be developed along with the infrastructures just as the economic policies should also be favourable to the development of industries.
Challenges and prospects
In spite of the difficulties, which the private sector has had to grapple with, recent developments in the industry offer a ray of hope.
There are many successful local manufacturers of computers such as Zinox and Omatek. As science and technology minister, I had the opportunity of interacting with some of these companies and it was obvious that the local manufacturers have great potentialities; policies were, therefore, developed to support the industry. I am happy to note that government has continued to render support to the industry. Currently, government has indicated preference for patronizing local brands of computer systems. Most government offices such as the Raw materials Research and Development Council use those local brands.
In spite of the challenges, which the electronics and electrical industry is facing in Nigeria, the enormous opportunities should not be ignored. For most of the electronics products, CKD components could be imported for local assembly. In support of this strategy, government has reduced the duty on the CKD components. The opportunity of local value added should be seized to build a virile industry. Relevant institutions should be primed towards meeting the challenges. The Centre for Advancement of Technology and National Information Technology Development Agency(CATNITDA) should work towards the local production of some of the CKD components. Tremendous opportunities for small-scale industries and youth employment lie in this industry and it should be properly harnessed.