Don Decries Nigeria’s Reliance on Imported Machinery, Calls for Legislation to Curb Apetite for Foreign Technology

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

As Nigeria continues to rely heavily on imported machinery in every sector of its economy, a university don has called for an end to reliance on foreign technology, saying that legislation was needed to curb the appetite.

Professor Kayode Simonyan made the call in the 55th inaugural lecture he delivered at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike(MOUAU), saying that Nigeria must adopt endogenous technology to achieve food security.

Simonyan, who is a professor of agricultural and bioresources engineering in the Department of Agricultural and Bioresources Engineering of MOUAU, and the Director, Directorate of University Research Administration, maintained that researchers in the nation’s tertiary institutions have acquitted themselves.

However, he regretted the absence of the needed political will to adopt and adapt local research outputs to solve problems in the nation as leaders have continued to pay lip service to application of endogenous technologies.

“There is a need to think and act locally through the adoption of locally developed technologies. There is a need to walk the talk if the local content executive order must stand,” he said.

As a way of curbing the voracious appetite for consumption of foreign technology, Professor Simonyan said that legislation should be put in place “to look inward to purchase agricultural equipment and machinery developed in the country”.

According to him, importing of foreign machineries should only be considered “when there is no such equipment in the country”.

In the drive for endogenous technology, he stressed the need for standardization, saying that the Standard Organisation of Nigeria(SON) and the National Centre for Agricultural Mechanization(NCAM) should be strengthened to develop standards for local technologies.

Prof Simonyan, who has put in over 30 years in research “focusing on solving local issues rather than only generating data for paper publications”, reeled out some of the equipment he has developed.

These include irvingia(bush mango) nut cracking machine, cassava peeling machine, motorised bambara groundnut shelling machine with a shelling efficiency of 95 percent and percentage damage of 5.1 percent at cylinder speed of 267 rpm.

He has also developed motorised stationary sorghum threshing machines, motorised ginger processing machines(including splitting, peeling and juice extraction), garri processing machines, and periwinkle extraction machine, among others.

However, the agricultural and bioresources expert lamented the difficulties faced by technology-based researchers in Nigeria because of the poor state of the nation’s power system.

He said: “The power situation should be improved. The merry-go-round on power situation in most tertiary institutions and the country as a whole has to end,” he stated.

“There cannot be serious research work without a constant electricity power supply,” he insisted, adding that the research ecosystem needs a conscious intentional overhaul and upgrade while adequate funding must be sustained.

To build Nigeria’s endogenous capacity, the MOUAU engineering researcher called for productive use of the Ajaokuta Steel Company and other steel industries.

The Vice-chancellor of MOUAU, Professor Maduebibisi Ofo Iwe, commended Prof Simonyan for his research outputs that have direct bearing to the local needs of the nation.

He said that Nigeria could no longer afford to be overlooking its endogenous technologies as they hold the key to its advancement in technology and the consequential national growth and development.