President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, from his campaign promises and antecedents, is favourably disposed towards the industrial development of Nigeria. His speeches are punctuated with references to the need to revive the manufacturing sector, create jobs and ensure the country is a big player in the international economy.
It takes much more than rhetoric to achieve these lofty objectives; deliberate steps must be taken to put in place, not just the right environment but also resources must be deployed to the relevant sectors and institutions, strategically placed to realise these objectives. One of such institutions, sadly not given the necessary attention over the years, is the Raw Materials Research & Development Council. The Council was established under Decree 39 of 1987, now an Act of the National Assembly, in order to promote research, development and utilisation of raw materials sourced locally in Nigeria, primarily to reduce the reliance of the country’s industries on imported raw materials.
For a country that is blessed with abundant natural and human resources, it was a sheer waste of resources to keep importing raw materials that Nigeria could produce in abundance, if only the country had put in a little more effort into innovation and research.
Its activities were also geared towards diversifying the economy. Since 1957 when petrol was discovered, the country has remained a mono-cultural economy due to the non-development of other raw materials in Nigeria.
There are many private initiatives to boost the manufacturing sector but the shortage of raw materials has always been a persistent setback. The situation is made worse in this dispensation in which either access to forex is difficult or the exchange rate is so prohibitive that goods produced from imported raw materials under this regime may be priced beyond the reach of the ordinary buyer. The manufacturing sector is therefore faced with the dilemma of importing raw materials at very high forex rates, producing goods that must be sold at an exorbitant prices and competing unfavourably with products imported into Nigeria from other countries, especially China, India, Turkey, Pakistan, etc, which are relatively cheaper. The Tinubu administration must intervene to alter this pervasive trend.
Over the years, the RMRDC has made progress in several areas, collaborating with local and international institutions, in order to achieve its mandate. For instance, it has produced a map of all the raw materials available in all the 744 local government areas across Nigeria. The project of mining data on the raw materials in each local government was carried out with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). State governments have been utilising the data to determine the kinds of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) that could survive in their environment.
In practical terms, the body has collaborated with the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile Ife and Star Auto Ltd Lagos to develop an automotive brake pad, using palm kernel shell (PKS) as friction material. This product is seen to be environmentally friendly, as against conventional asbestos-based brake pads that are carcinogenic. The brake pad produced from this collaboration has filled the gap left by the high cost of importing asbestos-based brake pad. The Council has also produced web offset print ink, utilised by the newsprint industry in Nigeria, saving the country over N1 billion spent on the importation of ink for the sector.
The Council has also developed a pilot plant for producing caustic soda, an important chemical raw material in textiles, soap and petroleum industries. It is collaborating with Sheda Science and Technology Complex (SHETSCO), Abuja for producing adhesive, which is used in offices and educational institutions.
Of course, this is a far cry from the lofty objectives the Raw Material Council is supposed to have achieved over 40 years since it was established. The setback is created by the half-hearted attention the government has paid to this organisation, as budgetary allocations for capital projects to it have never been released as at when due. With such poor funding, it has been difficult for RMRDC to effectively implement its programmes; it becomes one of the many government agencies that pays salaries at the end of every month, but cannot utilise their full capacity to achieve their mandate.
Apart from the allocations from the federal government, the agency’s other sources of revenues include one per cent import surcharge, and the meagre amount from internally-generated revenues. Under this atmosphere, its major achievements in data mapping on raw materials were realised through collaboration with international organisations.
Worse still, the Council has to collaborate with universities and many research centres across the country, most of which are poorly funded and bogged down by low motivation. Most research institutes have very poor infrastructure, laboratories and quality manpower. They face epileptic power supply, dilapidated research tools that cannot be relied upon for innovation and research breakthroughs. Then, there are cases of inter-agency rivalry because of the lack of clear distinction between the mandates of the RMRDC and other research agencies which target industries.
Now that it is apparent Tinubu is poised to revive the industrial sector, he must pay attention to RMRDC, to ensure that the potential of the agency is realised. Government must provide the funding necessary for the development of local raw materials, to reduce our reliance on imported raw materials for Nigerian industries. It is time to encourage synergy between Research and Development institutions and Nigerian industries for effective utilisation of research findings.
In order to achieve this, the government must revisit the mandate of institutions that have similar roles. For instance, the mandate of RMRDC overlaps with those of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and even the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB). Also, in areas where the Council has made a lot of positive impact, especially in the food and beverages sector whose raw materials are sourced locally, the government must provide the necessary support for more impact.
Adaji is a researcher, based in Abuja
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