Mamora Canvasses Ban on Foreign Goods Nigerians Can Produce Locally

* Says nation moving towards knowledge-based economy

Deji Elumoye in Abuja

The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, has canvassed for a total ban on all foreign goods that Nigeria can produce locally.

The minister, who put forward the position on Tuesday while addressing a news conference at the State House, Abuja, also said the federal government had been working round the clock to upgrade the nation from a resource-driven to a knowledge-driven economy.

Mamora, who suggested the ban as part of ways to protect local production and inventions, regretted that most of the inventions by agencies under his ministry are lying fallow on shelves because there has been a drought of investors and investments.

The minister emphasised the need for Nigerians to be aware of the local inventions and desire them, and for investors to be willing to embrace the products and get them introduced to the consumers’ market.

His words: “We are also looking at how we can compel, as it were, a little bit of legislation that once these things are available, particularly if they are protected because we also need to protect the intellectual property, we can just push them to the markets.

“So, the challenge is about getting investors that will take these inventions out there and these things can then be useful to our people. Again, we also have a duty in terms of our own nationalism.

“One of the challenges again is that we have developed taste that is not local. Rather, taste that is alien. We have this tendency to want to get something from abroad.

“Again, I think government will need to really come hard in terms of a total banning, as it were, of things that we have capacity to do locally. That is why nationalism comes in.”

He said the ministry is having a challenge taking research outputs to the market, stressing that it is only when that is done that it would be seen as doing something.

According to him, while the ministry would continue to engage the relevant stakeholders, it is also thinking of a legislation to compel protection of the inventions before pushing them to the market.

On what was being done with all the several inventions by the ministry, Mamora said: “What do we do with all these inventions? It’s a question that we have also been pondering about. It will interest you that virtually all our agencies have come up with one invention or the other.

“But the challenge had always been taking these research outputs to the market. Because until and unless we are able to take them to the market, we would not be seen to have been able to do something.”

While noting that the ministry’s gradual steps may be slow, the minister added: “We need to do more in terms of having that handshake between the research institutions and the market through investors and those who are interested – people that move around with their capital and would want to invest. So, it’s a challenge that we know we are still facing which we will need to do more.

“We have so many outputs that are still gathering dust in shelves in various agencies. So, what we are doing is to continue to engage, to continue to have fora for these engagements where we can bring all stakeholders together.”

Mamora also disclosed that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration had been busy with ideas and efforts to move Nigeria from a resource-driven to a knowledge-driven economy.

According to him, “What we hope to achieve is to move from resource based-economy to knowledge-based. This is important because there is no resource that cannot be exhausted but one resource that you cannot exhaust is knowledge. The more you know, the more you want to know it is not exhaustible. So, that is what our goal is. That is what we want to achieve.”

Commenting on the ministry’s specific achievements, the minister said it has contributed a lot to the country’s Gross domestic Product (GDP).

He said: “From 2015-2022, the nominal GDP grew from N94.4 to N199.34 trillion and the Science Tech and Innovation (STI) sector grew from N3.93 trillion to N5.35 trillion by 2022. Invariably the STI contribution to nominal GDP was 4.2 per cent in 2015 but dropped for obvious reasons to 2.7 per cent by 2022 essentially as a result of the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the emergence of COVID-19.

“This trend analysis shows an annual average of STI contribution of 3.6 per cent and 3.5 per cent for nominal GDP and real GDP. It is inspiring that in real terms, the STI contribution enhances the position of ranking among 46 specific sectors of the economy.”

While emphasising the contribution of science and technology to the agricultural sector in Nigeria, Mamora submitted that a lot had been achieved.

According to him, “The estimate in terms of our population would be about 350 million by 2050 and one of the things that will remain so critical for us to sort out is food because it is often said that when you are able to satisfy food needs, then you have fought poverty.

“So, we are paying attention to improved food output to ensure that we go into food security. That is why we have introduced a special variety of yam called Taca, for the production of starch and glucose syrup, which will reduce the pressure on yam, cassava and maize for the production of industrial raw materials.

“Again, we have been able to boost the agricultural programme through the development of improved seeds and seedlings that are distributed to farmers. These include cowpea, rice, ginger, banana, plantain, rice, cassava, sugar and many others.”

He stressed that the seeds being developed by agencies of the ministry are seeds that are resistant to pests and flooding so as to have greater yield.

Mamora said various preservation methods have also been developed by the ministry through its agencies, to reduce the rate of losses by farmers.

The ministry, he further explained, is contributing a lot to the health sector through the production of sickle cell and hypertension drugs, as well as ventilators and disinfectants.