•Made-in-Nigeria fabrics
The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), yesterday, said it had begun a strategy to address the longstanding barriers affecting the widespread acceptance and patronage of Made-in-Nigeria products.
NASENI, while identifying perceived inferior quality, affordability and public perception obstacles that must be tackled to enhance the patronage of locally-made products and compete favourably in the global market, emphasised the need for a unified approach to strengthen Nigeria’s industrial sector, reports The Guardian.
According to the agency, during an engagement held in Akure, Ondo State capital, with key stakeholders in the public and private sectors, particularly industry players, regulatory bodies, and research institutions, the event was designed to promote made-in-Nigeria solutions and accelerate homegrown technological advancements.
Deputy Director of Engineering at NASENI, Joseph Alasoluyi, who spoke during a panel session, recalled the agency’s journey since its establishment in 1992, noting that NASENI was set up to promote science, technology, and engineering as a foundation for Nigeria’s development and currently operates 12 institutes nationwide to achieve its objectives.
He said: “The idea of this programme is to interface to ensure we produce products using our indigenous technology. This is what NASENI is out for, to encourage homegrown technologies. We are out there to ensure we integrate efforts to ensure that local technology is used to develop products within our resources.”
Alasoluyi also highlighted the Irrigate Nigeria project – a presidential initiative championed by NASENI to ensure year-round agricultural production through innovative irrigation systems.
On his part, a NASENI representative shared how a team reverse-engineered a charcoal stove originally imported from China and improved its durability and functionality, demonstrating that Nigerian innovations can outperform imported counterparts when given the right support.
The Deputy Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Dr Samuel Oluyamo, stressed that many promising research outputs had been left moribund due to a lack of funding and weak linkages between research institutions and industry.
Oluyamo questioned the federal government’s commitment to funding research and development and lamented that many academic innovations remain shelved due to a lack of support for commercialisation and poor infrastructure.
“Until we upscale research into mass production, technological growth will remain elusive,” he said. Adekole Adetokunbo of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said that poor product quality, limited public awareness, and price variations make Nigerian products less competitive, stressing the need for strategic branding and consumer education.
Representative from the National Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI), AkadiriOlawaseun, stressed that the core of Nigeria’s industrial challenge is a perception problem, fuelled by weak government policies.He argued that Nigerian-made products, such as electrical cables, are often superior to foreign alternatives but suffer from limited trust and poor advocacy.
