Industrialization: Stakeholders Seek Govt, Private Sector Collaboration

Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan

The Executive Secretary, Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), Dr Bello Aliyu Gusau; Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan (UI), Prof. Kayode Adebowale and Chief Executive Officer, Jola Global Industry Limited, Dr. Moses Omojola, have called for collaboration among government, the academia and the private sector to achieve industrial revolution the country.

This is just as they emphasized that the tripartite collaboration through research and development of commercialisation of raw materials and local production would engender development.

They made the call in Ibadan, at the Knowledge Sharing Workshop, organized by the University of Ibadan in collaboration with the PTDF with the theme, “Nigerian Petroleum Industry and Energy Transition: Opportunities for Research, Innovation and Development.”

The PTDF boss represented by the Deputy General Manager, Strategic Planning and Documentation, Mr. Olayinka Agboola, said PTDF as an agent of government focuses on building capacity in the Oil and Gas industry through human capacity building, institutional support and funding research and development, stating that the workshop was one of the outcomes of the researches that the Chair of its endowment fund in the university conducted over the years.

According to him, “We tried to expand the frontiers of knowledge based on the outcome of research and development efforts which we have funded. To us, you don’t do research in isolation as you have to work with stakeholders because at the end of the day the researches are supposed to translate into products in the market.”

Omojola, one of the lead presenters at the event, identified industrialisation as the way out from the present economic challenges facing Nigeria, noting that the government must encourage industrialisation by addressing the energy challenge.

Speaking in the same vein, Prof. Sunday Isehunwa, of the Department of Petroleum Engineering, said Nigeria can address its carbon targets if it looks inward through research, innovation and development, noting that energy demand would keep rising because it is linked to development.