The Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) is boosting industrialisation by improving the raw materials available in different sectors to produce quality goods and cut over-dependence on importation.
The council recently took a team of journalists on a tour of its plants, laboratory, RMRDC Resource and Information Centre and several pilot plants in Abuja where the officials showcased a variety of products derived mainly from Nigerian raw materials.
These efforts became imperative as part of the growing initiative of the federal government to enhance the use of Nigerian raw materials through research and development for industrial production as well as export with value added.
In August 2022, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Adeleke Mamora, directed the governing board of RMRDC to ensure that raw materials are transformed into finished and revenue-generating products.
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A director and Head of Corporate Communications, RMRDC, Chikwudi Ngaha, said the efforts to harness the resources of the nation have been intensified under the Director General Prof. Hussaini Doko Ibrahim.
He said: “We are looking inwards and raw material will increase our capacity to generate revenue. Our foreign exchange earnings will increase.
“When Prof Hussaini Doko Ibrahim came on board, his major task was how to reduce importation and he has achieved that and from the products that are available you can see that.”
The Deputy Director, Engineering, Design and Development Division, Etuosochukwu Obassi, noted that the quality of products depends on the quality of raw materials with value addition in focus.
Obassi said the council is boosting the capacity of industrial agro-raw materials by developing improved and disease-resistant varieties as well as the domestication of a variety of industrial raw materials. He added that the council has achieved some success in the development of phytomedicine.
During the tour of the Raw Materials Testing and Certification Laboratory, assistant director and head of the pharmaceutical division, RMRDC, Fortune Alabi, said the laboratory is certified by the International Organization for Standardization.
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