Senator hails RMRDC feats in raw materials processing

Chairman, Senate Committee on Science and Technology, Senator Uche Lillian Ekwunife, has hailed the Raw Materials Research and Development Council for its “landmark achievements” in industrial development.

Senator told reporters in Abuja that the committee’s interaction with the RMRDC Director-General Prof Hussaini Ibrahim revealed that the agency had achieved a lot in the discharge of its mandate.

While reacting to criticisms trailing Ibrahim’s comment on the kilishi project, Ekwunife said it was to upgrade indigenous process technology.

She said the RMRDC had developed pharmaceutical grade starch from wild yam tuber, lovastatin from local mushroom specie to address issues of cholesterol as well as caustic soda and precipitated calcium carbonate for the pharmaceutical, paint, cosmetics and other allied industries.

She said the council had also developed anti-fungal and anti-diabetic drug, phytomedicine for the treatment of tuberculosis, automotive brake pad, gypsum scrubber for POP and cement manufacturing, flash dryer for high quality cassava flour, water-borne paints from the blends of natural rubber latex and polyvinyl acetate as binder as well as ethanol, glucose syrup and cattle feeds from sweet sorghum.