Minister of Science and Technology, Senator Olorunnibe Mamora on Thursday declared that the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO) in Lagos has lost its glory.
He however called for a collective effort of stakeholders in the institute to “take back” the glory.
Mamora spoke during an official visit to the institute, the first to be made since his deployment.
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Daily Trust reports that FIIRO is a foremost research institute established in 1953 to patent research and development (R&D) products for the use of various industries as well as the growth and development of the country.
The Minister inspected the cassava bread factor, the warehouse consisting of various equipment like; FIIRO tomato paste vacuum evaporator, plastic shredder, automated dryer, laboratories, among others.
The Minister who blamed the fading glory of the institute on mismanagement of resources, charged the staff to re-commit themselves to the task of restoring the old glory of the institute.
He said, “We cannot live on past glory. The glory of FIIRO is fading and if we must take back the glory it must be a collective effort.
“We are here for a short time because the Buhari’s administration is almost over, but we can still do something.”
Director-General/CEO of the institute, Dr. Jummai Adamu Tutuwa said despite the fact that FIIRO was established a long time ago, the various laboratories utilized for the production of the various R&D are in a deplorable state of disrepair.
She attributed it to “inadequate funding, poor maintenance which leads to low morale on the part of the staff, particularly the researchers who had one way or the other used part of their wages for the conduct of R&D in the agency.”
