Nigerians were rightly informed, a few weeks back, that the country’s Science & Technology Ministry had been renamed to Science, Technology & Innovation. One might ask; was that really the remedy to the lingering lapses?
I have chosen to emphatically lay emphasis on the country’s technology sector, which is borne out of my quest to see a Nigeria where the citizenry wouldn’t depend on foreign products or services as they struggle for survival and greatness.
The current blurry outlook of Nigeria’s tech sector doesn’t need a flurry of activity, but holistic, from those who have been delegated to salvage it, or sieve the flour, if we must get it right. It’s on this premise I thought it wise to painstakingly observe and study the area in question.
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It’s quite appalling – to assert the least – that at this age, our education sector as regards science and technology is still operating in the past. On a regular basis, countless of our engineering graduates could hardly design a device related to their field of study let alone constructing it.
The aforementioned educational lapse is not unconnected with the dilapidated learning environment found in our various higher institutions. These citadels can hardly boast of standard laboratories and workshops needed to inculcate the required technical skills into the students’ minds.
Pathetically, a few of the graduates who were privileged to acquire the necessary skills, perhaps owing to their individual talents and abilities, had been compelled to leave the country for elsewhere in search of a better accommodating environment suitable for their quest. The brain drain has continued unabated that it’s seriously telling on the system.
The ongoing lack of adequate facilities invariably witnessed in our schools is the reason many have overtime been forced to patronize foreign education, hence posing a severe threat to the economy of the acclaimed giant of Africa.
Aside from learning, the universities aren’t doing enough regarding research work. Basically, they were not to function as institutions meant solely for imparting knowledge, but equally a place where people or corporate bodies can seek services on all forms of research.
It’s bad that these citadels are not duly funded by the respective governments to enable them to commercialize their patents. It’s noteworthy that every technological invention is directly dependent on a certain research activity.
The health angle isn’t left out while dissecting the lingering ugly physiognomy of Nigeria’s tech sector at large. Nigerians quickly rush abroad when suffering from an ailment that ordinarily could easily be taken care of here, probably as a result of the unfriendly outlook of both private and public hospitals cum health centres domiciled across the country.
We have well-tested health/medical experts but occurrence of an uncalled environment deprives them the opportunity to practise favourably. This particular menace has also resulted in colossal brain drain, thereby making our tech sector cry woefully.
In the area of agriculture, the story isn’t different. The government has continually clamoured for improved farming activity, still the country dwells on a crude system of cultivation and harvest. It’s not anymore news that the Nigerian State is yet to get it right when it calls for mechanized farming despite the apparent willingness.
What about the manufacturing sector? It would candidly be an understatement if one opines that this area is really frowning at us. In spite of the outpouring promises coupled with seeming frantic effort to uplift it, the stakeholders involved are still seemingly marred by apathy. All our various ancient production firms have virtually gone into moribund, and till date, nothing tangible has been done to revive them.
As we collectively celebrate Nigeria amidst her 61st Independence Anniversary, it would be nice, wise and caring of us to as well urge her to embrace a sober reflection with a view to bringing a turnaround in the country’s system, particularly the tech sector.
It’s pertinent to acknowledge that to address a certain existing anomaly, you must be ready to fish out its rudimentary attributes or fundamental causes. This is the only way such a plight could be tactically tackled.
The truth is that we, as a people, have in recent times neglected as well as abused our collective tech prowess. We need to revisit it towards making amends. The governments at all levels must take drastic action to resuscitate our numerous technical colleges. There’s a compelling need to inject more life into these institutions, which bear the foundation of the nation’s tech sector.
We ought to equally reawaken the essence of the ongoing Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) being participated by the science-oriented learners in our various universities and polytechnics.
Similarly, the engineering students should be meant to undergo a one-year compulsory training section, which ought to serve as a prerequisite to the national youth service, just as it’s done by the medical cum pharmaceutical students.
Inter alia, we need to in earnest rejig the country’s extant policies to end the lingering mono-economy era. For instance, the desire to revive the country’s downstream sector in the petroleum industry requires a viable and strict policy.
It’s apparent that overtime policies concerning the anticipated revival of the downstream sector have profusely been compromised, perhaps owing to lack of political will and other related pranks being played by the government at the expense of the governed. This anomaly must be addressed in earnest if we, as a people, are truly concerned to get things right.
The recent signing of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law, by President Muhammadu Buhari, is just a stepping stone. There must be a thorough implementation of the entire clauses therein.
We must, therefore, seriously learn to jettison all our old patterns of doing things as well as every obnoxious norm being upheld by those entrusted with public responsibilities, with a view to embracing an era of total positive turnaround.
Technology, particularly Information and Communications Technology (ICT), is already here with us. Hence, we mustn’t shy away from facing the realities squarely.
This is the prime reason the government is expected to throw every needed support behind the activities of the already existing indigenous tech manufacturers such as the likes of Innoson Motors Company, among others.
It’s disheartening that 61 years after, Nigeria isn’t yet self-reliant, technology wise, hence the need not to rebuff the above candid suggestions.
Changing or rebranding the name of the Science and Technology Ministry isn’t the answer, but an apt thought, policy direction and action.