COMMERCIALIZING ENGINEERING:

AN IMPERATIVE FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Engr. (Prof) Peter Azikiwe ONWUALU

FNSE, FA Eng, FAS
Visiting Professor, National Universities Commission, (NUC) Abuja
Former DG, Raw Materials Research and Development Council, (RMRDC) Abuja
E-mail:ponwualu@yahoo.com

Invited Paper Presented at the 23rd Engineering Assembly of Council for Regulation of
Engineering in Nigeria (COREN)
International Conference Centre, Abuja

18th 20th August, 2014

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Contents
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. National Development Efforts

3. The Role of Engineering and Technology in National Development

4. Engineering Research and Development in Nigeria

5. The Commercialization Process

6. Current Platforms for Promoting Commercialization in Nigeria

7. Challenges and Obstacles to Commercialization

8. The Way Forward: Setting a National Agenda for Commercialization

9. Conclusions

References

ABSTRACT
Nigeria is a country naturally endowed with abundant, material and human resources. Since
independence in 1960, the country has formulated and implemented various development plans.
These include the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th National Development Plans, the Structural Adjustment
Programme (SAP), the National Rolling Plans, National Economic Empowerment Development
Strategy (NEEDS), Vision 2010, 7-Point Agenda, Vision 2020, Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) and various programmes of the 36 states of the Federation. Although some progress
have been made over the years, the development process has not been sustainable, resulting in
non-inclusive growth, infrastructure deficits and a situation where significant percentage of the
populace still live below the poverty line of one US$/day. This situation, among others informed
the Transformation Agenda of the present Federal Government, which includes projects such as:
Power and Petroleum Sector Reform; Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA); National
Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP); Transport Infrastructure Development; Reform of Public
Institutions; the new Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy; Subsidy Reinvestment
Programme (SURE-P); National Enterprise Development Programme (NEDEP) etc.
For these projects and development programmes to be sustainable, there is need for home grown
engineering innovations to be continuously developed and commercialized to ensure that the
engineering technology and innovations required for development of these programmes are
available at affordable costs. The Innovation System of Nigeria made up of Universities,
Polytechnics, Research Institutes, Government Agencies and Industries is large. A lot of
innovations and commercializable R&D results are available from these Knowledge Centres. But
not many of these are commercialized especially in the engineering field, leading to over
dependence on imported engineering products and services which is further impoverishing the
country. The challenges facing commercialization are identified to include: poor Science and
Engineering Infrastructure for production of capital goods and machine tools; lack of information
on commercializable R&D results; unfair competition from imported technology; poor demand
driven research; weak research industry linkages; lack of expertise for commercialization and
entrepreneurship by researchers; weak culture of collaboration among stakeholders; and weak
funding mechanisms.
In order to solve the problem and engender a new regime of a functional National System of
Innovation (NSI) which will ensure a continuous flow of innovations from formal and informal
Knowledge Centres into the market place, the establishment of a Foundation for
Commercialization of Inventions and Innovations (FCI2) is proposed. Such a Foundation among
other things should: Strengthen existing platforms and mechanisms for Research and
Commercialization; develop and disseminate a dynamic electronic database of R&D results and
innovations coming out of the Knowledge Centres and update this continuously; set and
implement a target for commercializing at least 10 innovations every year in Nigeria; educate the
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citizenry more on Intellectual Property Rights and Patents and mount an aggressive programme
to promote and ensure patronage of made in Nigeria goods and services, and ensure good access
to investible funds by those interested in commercializing local innovations. It is concluded that
it is only when these are done and Nigeria is able to produce and provide the required
engineering goods, services and skills required to develop most sectors of the economy that we
shall achieve a true sustainable development, leading to inclusive growth.

1.
INTRODUCTION: The Paradox of the Nigerian Economy
The Nigerian economy can be described as an economy characterized by a lot of paradox. While
there are many positive economic indices indicating that the economy is growing and doing well,
at the individual level many Nigerian citizens are still living inhuman lives and find it difficult to
wriggle out of the cycle of poverty they have found themselves (Onwualu, 2006;Ogbu,;
Ekpesuri, 2014; Onwualu, 2014). A few examples will buttress this point. At the current
estimate of 80 trillion Naira, Nigerias GDP makes the country the largest economy in Africa and
26th in the world. It is also the largest producer of crude oil in Africa, 7th in the world for oil and
28th in the world for gas. Crude oil production is in the range of 2.5 million barrels/day while
gas is over 1.6 billion cubic feet/day. In terms of non-oil natural resources, Nigeria has at least 34
commercially exploitable minerals (including Kaolin, Coal, Gold, Barytes, Limestone,
Lead/Zinc, Bitumen, Iron ore, Tantalite, etc.). There are also over 25 commercially available
cash crops (including oil palm, groundnut, cocoa, cashew, cotton, rubber, cassava; castor;
sesame seeds) and livestock. Onwualu et al (2013). Other natural resources in abundance
include water, renewable energy and of course human resources (170 million people, largest in
Africa). Other positive indices include an annual economic growth rate of 6-9% making it one
of the fastest in the world, fastest growing ICT sector in the world, and largest manufacturer of
cement in Africa. In recent times, Nigeria has been ranked as the number one investment
destination in Africa. Nigeria also has the highest number of wealthy people in Africa, including
the worlds richest black man. In terms of STI institutions, the country has the highest number
of knowledge centres in Africa (129 Universities, 50 Polytechnics, 45 Colleges of Education and
50 Research Institutes).
One would have thought that with all these positive indices, the quality of life would be high in
Nigeria. But available statistics show otherwise. For example, the low per capita income of
$2688 puts the country at 121st in the world. The country has been ranked among 5 countries
where one can find the worlds poorest people. Global competitiveness ranking is 95 out of 131
(Onwualu, 2008 WEF, 2007). It is 4th on the Global Index on modern slavery. Nigeria is 153rd
out of 187 in overall standard of living in 2013 UNDP Human Development Index. Life
expectancy has been estimated at only 52.3years. Unemployment is high (25%) and over 28% of
Nigerians earned less than one Dollar a day in 1980 and by 2012, it increased to 67%.
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The practical implication of this is that all aspects of the economy namely Food and Agriculture,
Health Care, Education, Employment, Power, Transport, Commercialization, Water,
Environment, Security, Housing, Urban Development, Commerce and Industry are operating
below average and heavily dependent on imports which cannot be sustained. Of recent, a new
dimension of insecurity has joined the myriad of challenges facing the country. It is not that the
government of Nigeria has not worked towards achieving sustainable development in all these
sectors. Indeed many efforts have been made from the Development Plans of the 1960s to the
present Transformation Agenda of the Federal Government. In each of the plans, provision of
critical infrastructure for all the sectors had always been identified as the major requirement but
unfortunately these have been based on massive importation of most of the engineering
technology required to develop the different sectors. But we know that for development to be
sustainable, it must be based on endogenous engineering technology which should be made up of
a judicious combination of home grown technology and appropriately adapted imported
technology. A number of individuals and institutions have come up with prototypes of such
endogenous technologies, but these have not been successfully transformed to commercialized
innovations that can drive sustainable development. The main reason for this failure is the
inability of the Nigerian Innovation System (NIS) to commercialize these inventions and
Research and Development (R&D) results.
This paper therefore will examine the role of Science, Engineering, Technology and Innovation
(SETI) in national development. Building on that, the paper notes that commercialization of
engineering based inventions and R&D results are imperative for National Development. The
paper suggests a sustainable path for commercialization in Nigeria, identifying the challenges
and charting a way forward. An all inclusive strategy for a national commercialization agenda is
proposed towards achieving sustainable infrastructural development and hence Sustainable
Development in Nigeria. The roles of major stakeholders are presented.

2.
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS
By analyzing the paradox of the Nigerian economy and national life presented earlier, it would
appear as if efforts have not been made in the past towards achieving sustainable development.
On the contrary, very serious efforts have been made in the past by successive governments to
formulate and execute various development programmes (Onwualu et al 2014; Onwualu et al.,
2006; Awe and Oluwole, 1992; Iweriebor, 2004). From independence in 1960, four 5-year
Development Plans were implemented as follows:
1st National Development Plan (1962-1968)
2nd National Development Plan (1970-1974)
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 3rd National Development Plan (1975-1980)

4th National Development Plan (1981-1985)
These plan periods witnessed very ambitious projects including road networks, rail development,
water resources, power projects and establishment of state owned heavy duty industries and
massive infrastructural development. These efforts were supported by increased revenue from
crude oil. However, by 1985, dwindling oil prices, mismanagement of public corporations, years
of military rule and the fact that most of the economic development were based on imports of
machinery, technology and finished goods brought the country to its knees. Nigeria could not
sustain the huge import bills and the debt burden became unbearable. With the advice of the
World Bank, the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) was introduced in 1986. Since then,
various prrogrammes have been formulated and executed as follows:

Structural Adjustment Programme

National Rolling Plans
NEEDS
Vision 2010
7 Point Agenda
Vision 2020
MDGs
Transformation Agenda
Various programmes of different State Governments.

These development plans have resulted in a large number of programmes and projects some of
which are defunct. These include: Commercial Agricultural Development Programme (CADP);
National Agricultural Land Development Authority; National Centre for Agricultural
Mechanization; Directorate for Foods, Roads and Rural Infrastructure; Rural Agro Industrial
Development Scheme; The green Revolution; Operation Feed the Nation; River Basin
Development authority; Commodity Boards; numerous Universities, Research Institutes,
Polytechnics and Colleges and Privatization of Public Enterprises.
Details of analysis of the successes and failures of these programmes have been presented by
various researchers. The only point of agreement by various analysts is that even with the return
to democratic rule, Nigerias development efforts have not resulted in sustainable inclusive
growth where majority of the citizens will live above the poverty line with good access to public
utilities and infrastructure. In fact most of the heavy duty industries started earlier are no more
producing and most industries are struggling to survive under difficult economic climate and
infrastructure deficits.

This situation prompted the present administration to formulate and is currently implementing
the Transformation Agenda. The Agenda is aimed at transforming the Nigerian economy from
different perspectives. These include:

Power and Petroleum Sector Reform

Agricultural Transformation Agenda
Liberalization of the Education Sector
National Industrial Revolution Plan
National Enterprise Development Programme (NEDEP)
Mineral Resource Development Master Plan
Financial System Reform (Cashless Policy)
Nigeria Incentive Based Risk sharing for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL)
Transport Infrastructure Development (Rail, roads, aviation)
Automotive Sector Reform
New Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy
Reform of Public Institutions
SURE-P
Urban and Housing Development.

These programmes have been variously described elsewhere (Ajoku and Onwualu, 2012;
Onwualu et al, 2013).
A close look at the programmes will reveal that most of them depend on the application of
engineering and technology. Most of the projects are currently being implemented by foreigners,
using mostly imported technology and engineering skills and equipment. This is evidenced by
the ubiquitous presence of foreigners at most project sites in Nigeria and the heavy import bills
for equipment, machinery and expatriates. While this situation can be allowed in order to speed
up the process of infrastructural development, for the development to be sustainable, it is
imperative that these technologies must be domesticated. Nigeria must develop her own critical
mass of engineering personnel, industries, engineering infrastructure, equipment, etc. and should
also be able to maintain the imported technologies.
This can happen only if we harness the various innovations coming out of the National
Innovation System and continuously commercialize them, such that they can support
development efforts.
3.
THE ROLE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY IN NATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
Most of the time in Nigeria, the role of Engineering in Development is taken for granted. This is
probably because most of the development efforts are executed through procurement. And in
procurement, equipment, materials and sometimes skills are imported and supplied. If we
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examine the Transformation Agenda, it will be obvious that without engineering the programme
will fail.
The Agricultural Transformation Agenda among other things is using the Value Chain approach
to encourage commercial production, processing, handling and storage of selected crops and
livestock (Onwualu and Olife, 2013). The target is to end importation of such agricultural
products and also to work towards exports. For this to succeed, production machines, processing
machines, bulk handling, storage and packaging machines are imperative. There should also be
functional irrigation, drainage and erosion control schemes which require engineering designs,
construction, operation and maintenance.
The Transport Sector Reform currently going on involves designs, construction, operation and
maintenance of roads, airports, water ways, bridges, rail tracks, coaches, vehicles etc. Within the
healthcare system, hospitals and diagnostic centres are being built and rehabilitated. Essential
hospital equipment including drug manufacture and handling equipment are required. For the
Manufacturing and Industrial Revolution Plan to work, we require machine tools, foundries,
robotics, manufacturing machines, packaging machines, quality control machines, material
processing machines. The education sector liberalization is resulting to explosion in the number
of educational institutions and these require new buildings, laboratories, teaching and research
equipment and other engineering products. The power sector reform involves building of new
power plants, transmission and distribution lines as well as billing and metering systems. The
various housing programmes, environmental programmes, financial system programmes such as
cashless policy require machines which should be designed, operated and maintained by
engineers.
As noted earlier, these development efforts pose challenges to the engineering profession.
Pertinent questions to ask are:
-

What is the local content of these projects?

How many power plants, transmission and distribution lines are built in Nigeria?
What part of the rail system and coaches currently used by Nigerian Railway Corporation
are made in Nigeria by Nigerian Engineers?
How many financial, medical or educational software are made in Nigeria?
How many cash registers, POS machines, machines for making credit cards, etc. are
produced locally?
How many of the agricultural machines used for ATA Programme are produced locally;
How many of the roads, building, civil structures, airports etc. are built with local
materials and by Nigerian Engineers?
Are Nigerian Engineers rising to the challenge of developing technologies for addressing
the development challenges?
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How much of the engineering and technology applications in the telecommunications

sector are designed, manufactured and operated by Nigerians?
- How many of the new medical facilities including hospitals, medical equipment, drug
manufacture and distribution etc are done by Nigerian engineers and in Nigeria?
- How many of the major engineering and industrial projects in Nigeria are being executed
with local innovations by local engineers?
Answers to these questions have serious and grave implications for the success of our
development efforts in Nigeria.

4.
ENGINEERING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
Different researchers have attempted to document the historical development of Research and
Development (R&D) in Nigeria from colonial era when it was only at the Railways Workshop
and Ministry of Works Workshops that any type of engineering related R&D could be done, to
the present time where there are now Universities, Polytechnics, Research Institutes etc. with
engineering faculties and departments (Ajoku and Onwualu, 2012; Iweriebor, 2004; Animalu
and Adekola, 2002; Awe and Oluwole, 1992; Momah, 1999; RMRDC, 2006; RMRDC, 2009;
Adeoti et al., 2010). The sources of commercializable R&D products in Nigeria can be classified
as follows:

Technical Colleges and Vocational Centres

Research Institutes
Higher Institutions of Learning (Universities, Polytechnics, Colleges of Education, etc.)
Manufacturing Industries
SME Fabricators
NGOs, Development Partners and Foundations
Informal Sector (Inventors)
Trade/Commerce Clusters
Skill Acquisition Centres

This list is by no means exhaustive. The R&D products emanating from these sources vary in
terms of sophistication and the area of the economy they are addressing. Some of them are based
on Scientific Research while some are based on intuition without any basic scientific principle or
engineering design. Because of this, while some of them are well finished work waiting for
commercialization, some are still in their crude form. Documentation on these are scattered in
different MDAs, making it extremely difficult for any potential inventor to know what is
available. An attempt has been made by the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology to
compile a list of commercializable R&D results as shown in Appendix 1 (FMST, 2008. For any
of these to be commercialized, machines are required. Similar lists are available from each of the
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sources of innovation listed earlier. Of all these, it is only manufacturing industries that actually
commercialize their products since most of what they do is in-plant. At the last estimate, there
are at least 1000 commercializable R&D results from Nigerias Innovation System awaiting
commercialization (Onwualu, 2014). This situation calls for many questions including:

Why is it that many innovations and commercializable R&D products exist in the
Nigerian Innovation System and yet they are not being used to solve the myriad of
problems confronting all sectors of the Nigerian economy?
Do we really understand commercialization what commercialization is and what models
of commercialization can work in Nigeria?
What Policy needs to be put in place to ensure that every year, a certain number of new
engineering products are commercialized to solve specific engineering problems in the
Nigerian economy?
What mechanisms and platforms need to be put in place to ensure that cutting edge
research is done in Nigeria, leading to innovation technologies that are used to solve the
problems of infrastructure and indeed all aspects of the governments Transformation
Agenda?

We shall attempt to answer these questions in the remaining parts of this lecture.
5. THE COMMERCIALIZATION PROCESS
5.1 Principles, Concepts, Models and Processes of Commercialization
The literature is rich with works done towards providing scientific background and
understanding of commercialization principles, concepts, models and issues (Maarse and Bogers,
2012; Leicyte, 2011; Slater and Mohr, 2006; Allen, 2012; Rothwell, 1994; CATA, 2011;
Gulbrandsen and Rasmussen, 2008; OTC, 2010; Goldsmith, 2005; Onwualu, 2012).
Simplistically, two distinct models of innovation have been identified namely the linear
technology push model and the linear market pull model (Rothwell, 1994) as shown in Figure 1.

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MODELS OF INNOVATION

TECHNOLOGY PUSH

MARKET DRIVE

Basic Science

Market Need

Design and Engineering

Development

Manufacturing

Manufacturing

Sales

Marketing

Sales

Innovation
New engineering products and Services

Fig. 1: Models of Innovation

(Source: Adapted from Rothwell, 1994.)
There are arguments for and against each of the models but the history of innovations worldwide
has shown that both factors play a major role in innovation. This is very important to note
because many a time in Nigeria emphasis is on demand or market driven innovation to solve
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immediate problems but the danger is that it limits mans capability to develop technologies
which can solve unintended problems.
The process of Technology Commercialization follows a number of steps and procedures. The
office of Technology Commercialization of the University of Texas at Austin gives an 8 step
procedure to include Research, Disclosure of invention, Market Assessment, Patenting and other
Legal protection, Prospecting, Due diligence and negotiation, the deal and after the deal (OTC,
2010). Another simple process which is adopted by RMRDC is shown in Figure 2.

This involves producing prototypes from R&D efforts and up scaling the prototype to a pilot
plant either on its own or in an incubation centre and then moving to a commercial venture in a
commercial environment (Onwualu, 2012). The models and steps presented above are simplistic
and can work for very simple products especially when moving from and R&D organization to
setting up a spin-off company. More sophisticated models and procedures have been developed
by other researchers. This includes the basics 8 step linear model developed by Booz et al.,
(1968) as described by Maarse and Bogers (2012) and shown in Figure 3.

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Figure 3. Linear model of new product development

(Source: Adapted from Maarse and Bogers, 2012)
The next more sophisticated model is the stage-gate model developed by Cooper (1990, 2008)
and shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Coopers Stage-gate model

(Source: Cooper, 1990; Cooper 2008)
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But in practice, the process is not linear and distinct but made up of over lapping activities as
described in the Integrative models of Maarse and Bogers (2012). The model is made up of six
development phases and two intersections and shows how complicated the process of
commercialization can be. It therefore requires serious efforts to succeed.
The most comprehensive generic model of commercialization appears to be the Goldsmith
Technology Commercialization Model (Goldsmith, 2005) shown in Figure 6 which is applicable
to commercialization of advanced technologies. The model consists of three phases, six stages
and eighteen steps. The three phases include Technical, Marketing and Business. The 6 stages
include Investigation, Feasibility, Development, Introduction, Growth and Maturity. The 18
steps include technical analysis, market needs assessment, venture assessment, technical
feasibility, market study, economic feasibility, engineering prototype, strategic marketing plan,
strategic business plan, pre-production prototype, market validation, business startup, production,
sales and distribution, business growth, production support, market diversification and business
maturity.

Fig. 5 The Goldsmith commercialization model (Goldsmith, 2005)

(Source: centrepointgsu.com/technology-innovation)

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Fig. 6 Commercialization model demonstrating valley of death as adopted by Ohio government

(Source:www.development.ohio.gov/bs_thirdfrontier)

Fig. 7. Commercialization process adopted by British Colombia Institute of Technology

(Source:www.bcit.ca/applied research)

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Two other interesting models and procedures for commercialization are described by a
commercial arm of Ohio State Government in the United States as shown in Fig. 6 and the
British Colombia Institute of Technology in Canada, as shown in Fig. 7. These illustrate one
important feature of commercialization, the so called valley of Death. The main aim of any
commercialization programme is to minimize this valley as much as possible.
The above literature shows that commercialization is serious business and not what should be left
to R&D personnel alone to handle. It should be handled by a multi-disciplinary team of experts
including engineers, lawyers, marketers, socio-economists, etc. It also requires substantial
investment and continuous work. What is happening presently in Nigeria cannot lead us to
serious commercialization of technology.
5.2. Commercialization Efforts in Nigeria
The Federal Ministry of Science and Technology has at various times directed parastatals under
its supervision to establish Commercial Ventures towards commercializing their R&D products.
The Ministry also has a Presidential Standing Committee on Inventions and Innovations which
gives annual grants to individuals towards actualizing their innovations. A compilation of
commercializable R&D results by parastatals under the Ministry is shown Appendix 1. Such a
list can be expanded to include other research institutes, private sector, universities and other
higher institutions. This shows that there is a lot to be done towards commercialization of these
innovations. Other organizations such as NOTAP, RMRDC, NUC, NBTE, ARCN and the
individual R&D organizations show a list of commercializable R&D results either on their
websites or brochures. It should be noted that most of these are just experimental prototypes
which require additional work to actually qualify as Commercializable R&D results.
In terms of progress in actual commercialization, not much success has been recorded. However,
there are a few indicators of progress.
Recently, the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Abuja
signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nigerian Machine Tools Limited,
Oshogbo towards production of machine tools, capital goods and machine parts and industrial
machinery locally in Nigeria (Anuforo, 2014). This is in addition to earlier successes recorded by
the organization in commercializing science kits, and other products.
The University of Port Harcourt is one of the few universities currently transforming itself into
an entrepreneurial university by encouraging high level Research and also commercialization.
The University is currently establishing an Industrial Park where Spin-off companies are to be
nurtured. The Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta is also making significant efforts.
University of Ibadan recently established the University of Ibadan Research Foundation (UIRF)
aimed at translating academic research results into innovations and strategic products (Akpuh,
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2014). The university has mobilized the Foundation with N100 million and inaugurated a 20 man
board to raise more funds and run the Foundation. The Foundation is to address Food Security,
Renewable Energy, Health, and Infrastructure. The target is to commercialize at least one R&D
result in the next 12 months. According to the Vice Chancellor, the idea is to take the gown to
town.!
Recently, the National Universities Commission announced the award of Africa Centres of
Excellence to some Nigerian Universities in different areas of research, funded by the World
Bank. Although each of the Centres is to work on product development, Obafemi Awolowo
University Centre is aimed at building an Industrial Park where spin off companies from the
University R&D work shall be nurtured. Although this is still evolving, such initiatives are
required to Jump start commercialization in Nigeria.
The Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) has been involved in
promoting commercialization of engineering R&D from different Knowledge Centres. Some of
the success stories include: establishment of Cashew Processing Plants in collaboration with
Kogi State University, Anyigba and Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta; establishment
of a Fertilizer Plant for a private company in collaboration with NARICT, Zaria; promotion of
SMEs involved in production of Moringa based products; hosting of biennial Technology
Exposition, etc. Some of these are shown in Figure 8.

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Fig. 8. Commercialized Technologies developed by RMRDC

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6.

CURRENT PLATFORMS FOR PROMOTING COMMERCIALIZATION IN

NIGERIA
There are a number of possible mechanisms or platforms available for commercialization of
engineering R&D results in Nigeria. These include: Collaborative/Contract Research Grants;
Pilot Plants; Catalytic Model Factories; Outright Sale of Technology; Technology Licensing;
Joint Ventures; Start-up or Spin Off Ventures; Promotion/Brokerage Activities; Technology
Business Incubation; Technology Parks.
6.1 Collaborative/Contract Research Projects
Under this mechanism, researchers can collaborate with industries to receive contracts or grants
to commercialize a product of research. In this case, the funds and supervision can be provided
by either a government agency, development partner or the collaborating industry. Agencies of
Government that have been involved in this type of arrangement include the Raw Materials
Research and Development Council (RMRDC), World Bank Step B Project, National
Agricultural Research Project (NARP), Bank of Industry, National Office for Technology
Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), etc.
6.2 Pilot Plant
One sure way to convince investors to adopt a new technology from research is to build pilot
plants. In this case, laboratory prototypes are up-scaled to the size and scale of commercial
prototypes but are run as pilots, not under commercial conditions. Such approach enables the
researcher to identify problems that can occur when the industrial model is operated. It also
provides an opportunity to show potential investors the technical feasibility of the new
technology. However, most pilot plants are hardly profitable as they are usually run under
subsidies. The RMRDC has established such pilot plants in the past including Castor Processing
Plant, Kaolin Processing Plant, etc.
6.3 Catalytic Model Factories
When new engineering processes are developed especially for new industries, it is difficult to
convince investors to invest in them. The new process plants designed and built as pilots can be
commercialized through establishment of catalytic model factories. As opposed to pilot plants,
such factories are built and operated as commercial outfits. The only difference is that they are
usually financed by government or development agencies with the objective of sensitizing
investors and hence commercializing the new engineering design. The RMRDC used this model
to start off processing activities under its pioneer industry development programmes. Under the
scheme, pioneer industries for processing kaolin, barites, phosphate, vegetable oil, fruit juice
were established. Following this, other investors have established similar plants in the vicinity of
the plants.
6.4 Outright Sale of Technology
One model of commercialization that has worked especially in developed economies is outright
sale of designs or new inventions. The original investor, researcher or designer in most cases
does not have the financial and business capability to commercialize the technology. In that
case, another group of entrepreneurs can buy the Technology and commercialize it. This is
19

usually done by Venture Capital Companies who are experienced in bringing new products to the
market. This is an area that still needs to be developed in Nigeria, since most investors and
researchers still find it difficult to part with their ideas and not many organizations are willing to
bear the risk involved in venture capital operations.
6.5 Technology Licensing
Technology licensing is used to commercialize technology, where the inventor does not want to
part with the invention. Potential investors are allowed to invest and use the technology under
license. This has enabled rapid multiplication of new technologies all over the world. However,
this requires robust legal instruments and environments where rule of law exists to ensure strict
adherence to non-disclosures and other issues.
6.6 Joint Ventures
Under joint ventures, the researcher/inventor enters into joint venture with potential investors to
commercialize the new technology. This means that the inventor brings his knowledge while the
investor brings funds and entrepreneurship to the business and both parties share in the risks
involved. For this to succeed, the challenge of people with different backgrounds working
together must be overcome.
6.7 Spin off Ventures or Companies
Many Research and Development (R&D) organizations such as Research Institutes, Universities,
Research Departments of Industries prefer to commercialize their inventions themselves for fear
of losing their Intellectual Property to others. In this case, new companies are set up by the
researcher and the new idea is used for production of goods and services. In such institutions,
venture companies and consultancy companies have been established to handle such matters. In
some cases, Industrial Parks have been established by such institutions to encourage researchers
to establish spin off companies.
6.8 Science/Technology Parks
Science Parks and Technology Parks are usually established by the state to provide maker
space for inventors to transform their ideas and inventions into commercial enterprises. The
advantage of this is that the Park authorities provide infrastructure, market outlets and other
facilities which a budding entrepreneur requires. The major constraint of course is that most
governments find it difficult to provide the necessary investments required. The Abuja
Technology Village project is one good example of this. There is no reason why every state
government in Nigeria, University, Research Institute should not have a Science/Technology
Park.
6.9 Promotional/Brokerage Activities
One important mechanism adopted by government agencies over the years is to promote and
disseminate information to the investing public with the hope that when investors are sufficiently
sensitized, they can invest in commercializing a proven innovation. These usually come in form
of stakeholders and investors forum, Trade fairs, exhibitions, production of investment profiles,
20

feasibility reports, technology exposition, and consultancy services towards building the capacity
of the researchers in commercialization activities. Notable programmes under this include:
- Major exhibitions by professional bodies such as Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE),
Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN)
- Biennial Techno Exposition of Raw Materials Research and Development Council
(RMRDC)
- Polytechnic Research Fairs
- University Research Fair and NURASDEV by NUC
- Trade Fairs by Organised Private Sector
- National Council on Science and Technology Exhibitions
- Exhibition and Promotional activities by NOTAP.
This approach, although succeeds in creating awareness of the technology breakthroughs has
limitations. Only a few innovators have indicated that their attendance to such events have
resulted in commercialization of the products. Most of the time, only a few units of the
technology exhibited are sold. It has also been observed that potential investors hardly attend
these events and financial institutions who attend are usually more interested in marketing their
customer products than forging investment partnerships. Such events should be refocused to
involve only key stakeholders in commercialization.
6.10 Technology Business Incubation
Technology Business Incubation is similar to the Technology Park concept except that in this
case the promoter of the Incubation Centre provides all the infrastructure and space and the
inventor is admitted as a tenant. The tenant stays for 3 -5 years producing his products under the
protected environment. On graduation, such a tenant relocates to the outside world to continue
his business. Currently, Nigeria has a vibrant Technology Business Incubation Programme
The National Board for Technology Incubation. The Board has established Incubation Centres
all over Nigeria and they have graduated successful entrepreneurs producing different products.
This needs to be strengthened for more impact.
7.
CHALLENGES AND OBSTACLES TO COMMERCIALIZATION
We have noted that a large number of commercializable R&D are available within the Nigerian
Innovation System. However, only a few of these potentials actually hit the market after
successful commercialization. Some of the challenges include: poor engineering infrastructure
for machine building; weak funding platforms; poor demand-driven research; poor ResearchIndustry Linkage; unfair competition from imported technology; poor local content policy, lack
of commercialization expertise; weak culture of collaboration among MDAs; lack of
competitive drive and strength.
7.1
Poor Science and Engineering Infrastructure
The Nigerian economy is characterized by poor infrastructure. These include electricity, roads,
water, railway, fuel supply, environmental management, health care, education and skills. For
21

existing industries, most of them have to provide these facilities which ordinarily would be
provided by the national economy at affordable costs. By one estimate, industries spend up to
20% extra to provide these facilities. Thus, the cost of production is high making the production
of existing products to be uncompetitive. This does not encourage industries to spend additional
resources to either do research for new products or support commercialization of R&D from
Knowledge Centres. Closely related to general infrastructure is engineering infrastructure which
refer to those facilities required for building engineering products such as industrial machines,
automobiles, houses, roads, railways, airports, bridges, electronics, dams, etc. (Onwualu, 2014).
These engineering infrastructure include cranes, forklifts, machine tools, foundries tractors,
engineering materials, machine parts as well as those specialized machines required for making
them. Most of these infrastructure are not produced in Nigeria and therefore anybody who is
involved in commercialization will encounter difficulties in having access to them either for
outright purchase or for hire. This is why organizations such as National Agency for Science
and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) was set up. Actually, NASENI has been able to set up
Science and Engineering Infrastructure Development Institutes which are capable of building
different machine parts and components. However, there is still the need to see to the emergence
of SMEs similar to the Development centres which can handle problems of machine building. It
is noteworthy that some engineering companies have emerged which can handle such jobs
especially in the oil and gas sector but they still need support. The model used for the local
content programme for oil and gas should be extended to other sectors.
7.2
Lack of Comprehensive Dynamic Database on Commercializable R&D Results
There is no doubt that a lot of work is going on within the innovation system of Nigeria. From
all the sources of commercializable R&D results listed earlier, many potential innovations are
continuously coming out. But there is no comprehensive intelligent database in existence that
can give a picture of what is happening in the sector. What is available are compilations by
institutions of what they consider commercializable. A listing of these can be found in
documents and websites published by the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology (FMST)
and its 17 parastatals, Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ACRN) and the over 18
Agricultural Research Institutes, the National Universities Commission and the over 100
Universities, the NBTI and over 80 Polytechnics, etc. But a close scrutiny of these listings show
that some of the projects are still work in progress. This has in the past discouraged potential
industrialists, financial institutions and investors who either find it difficult to locate potential
results or discover that the result is not ready for actual commercial use. Thus, there is need to
initiate a process of continuously building a national database of commercializable R&D which
can be accessed by every stakeholder. Such a database should have some artificial intelligence
to sift through submissions and accept or reject based on some set criteria and should also protect
Intellectual Property Rights. This process is already on but needs to be expanded and reinforced
(Onwualu, 2014).
22

7.3
Unfair Competition from Imported Technology and Products
Although Nigeria has good tariff policy regime towards protecting local industries, the
implementation has been very poor. The result is that anything can literally be imported into the
country. Nigerian markets are flooded with goods and services of all types including those that
can be produced in Nigeria. In addition, engineering jobs and services are sometimes given to
foreign engineering firms who have unfair advantages. This situation does not encourage
building enterprises that can commercialize engineering products and services. Those who
succeed in commercializing products are usually faced with poor patronage which make some of
them to collapse after a short while. This is even worse for machines. Many SMEs involved in
fabricating or manufacturing new prototypes of machines complain that the market volume is
low making it impossible to utilize economies of scale. In addition, many of the large scale
industries in Nigeria are multi-nationals who prefer product development and technology
consultants from their parent companies abroad. This does not encourage local capacity
building.
7.4
Poor Market (Demand) Driven Research and Good R&D Results
A survey of exhibitors of commercializable R&D results show that most Researchers or
Inventors embark on research without first doing a market survey to know the desirability of the
target products. Although it is possible to develop a product of service and push it through the
market, under the Technology Push Model, such a method requires superior technology and
aggressive marketing which may be too expensive for budding enterprises. The idea of
developing products or services up to prototype stage before looking for end users or industries
that can use them means that it will require a lot of work to convince the potential users. It is
definitely easier to have a situation where the end user (industry, government agency or
entrepreneur) is involved in the problem or idea generation. If that happens, the product will
immediately find application in the industry and that makes commercialization easier. However,
a major challenge here is how to make industrialists and entrepreneurs accessible to Researchers
and Inventors especially at the inception of the research. This can only happen with special
incentives and policy from government. Such incentives or policy should encourage industries
to invite researchers or inventors with good potentials to work with them for a period of time. It
can also encourage researchers to establish spin-offs outside the research environment. Some of
the R&D results presented by researchers are not ready for commercialization.
7.5
Weak Research-Industry Linkage
Linkages between Research/Knowledge Centres and Industries in Nigeria are very weak, where
they exist (Onwualu, 2014; Kolawole, 2014). Although a number of industries are partnering
with knowledge centres (University, Polytechnics, Research Institutes) towards joint projects,
many industries in Nigeria do not have the capacity to engage the knowledge centres. Such
23

engagement would enable industry to be involved in formulating research ideas to solve their
problems and at the same time provide the financial resources to support the research up to
commercialization. On the other hand, staff of the industry can get involved in some aspects of
practical and industrial teaching for students. A number of reasons have been advanced for this
poor relationship between Knowledge Centres and Industries. These include lack of trust, no
incentives for industries, inability of Researchers to penetrate industries and address industrial
problems, and reluctance of large scale industries to engage the research centres.
7.6
Lack of Commercialization Expertise (Techno entrepreneurship).
Most engineering innovations are developed by technical people who do not have the culture,
skill or training on business or entrepreneurship. Thus, an excellent engineer with all the
technical skills required to develop an engineering product many know next to nothing on how to
commercialize or market the new idea. Commercialization requires some skill which should be
handled by experts who may or may not be engineers. It is usually done successfully by a multi
disciplinary team of engineers, marketers, packaging and promotion experts (Onwualu, 2012).
7.7
Weak Culture of Collaboration
The Innovation System in Nigeria is large, being made up of over 100 Universities, 50
Polytechnics, 50 Research Institutes, 5 million SMEs and informal sector entrepreneurs, 500
large scale industries, 300 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). Under the Triple
Helix concept, these groups of actors should continuously work together to ensure a continuous
generation of ideas and moving the ideas to innovation and commercializing them into products
in the market place. Unfortunately, most of the institutions work in isolation. This results to
spreading resources too thin, and sometimes duplication of efforts and ultimately no landmark
achievements in R&D, let alone commercialization. There is need for a conscious effort towards
fostering a culture of collaboration among all stakeholders in the National Innovation System.
7.8
Poor Knowledge of Intellectual Property Rights and Patents
Most researchers do not have adequate knowledge of Patents and Intellectual Property Rights.
They therefore do not factor these into their research at inception. Ideally, every engineering
R&D should aim at patenting the product of the research and subsequently converting the Patent
to wealth. It is noteworthy that the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion
(NOTAP) has started establishing IPO offices in Universities. This will help to address this
challenge.
7.9
Weak Funding Mechanisms/Platforms
In general, research funding in Nigeria is inadequate. The budgeting process treats Research
and Development as any other capital project. These are usually executed through procurement.
The budgeting system does not consider the long term nature of research. In addition, the
24

envelop system does not consider how much is required to complete a research project but
how much is allocated to that agency. The result is that most R&D results are not ready for the
market before researchers push them out. In most cases, no money is budgeted for
commercialization. However, different sources of funds can be accessed for commercialization.
These include; funds from special MDAs such as RMRDC, PTDF, TETFUND; development
partners such as World Bank, EU, British Council; Loans from Commercial and Development
Banks, Venture Capital Companies, Angel Investment Funds and grants from NGOs and
Foundations. It is usually difficult to access these funds by researchers since some of them
require special skills.
7.10 Implementation of the New National Science, Technology and Innovation (STI)
Policy
A new National STI Policy was presented to the public in 2013. A section of the policy deals
with commercialization. In addition, the policy recommends a special funding arrangement to
ensure that STI activities are properly funded by operationalizing the National Research and
Innovation Council and the National Fund for Research and Innovation. This policy is yet to be
implemented.
8.
THE WAY FORWARD: SETTING A NATIONAL AGENDA FOR
COMMERCIALIZATION
The economy of Nigeria must be diversified to harness other natural resources beyond oil
(Onwualu, 2009). But this must be based on developing the Science engineering, Technology
and Innovation Base. (PTOPTO) This can be achieved through promoting cutting edge research
to generate innovations and ensuring that these engineering innovations are commercialized into
goods and services in the market place. This is the only successful path to sustainable
development based on inclusive growth of the economy. We have shown that commercialization
is a risky business and therefore should not be left to market forces. It cannot just happen. It has
to be well planned and executed with full support of major stakeholders in the Triple Helix. For
commercialization of Engineering Innovations to succeed in Nigeria, we propose the
establishment of a Foundation for Commercialization of Inventions and Innovations (FCII). This
Foundation should be established by COREN and NSE with Industrialists, Government,
Financial Institutions, etc. as members. The simple task of the Foundation, which can be profit
oriented is to set targets and to see to the commercialization of at least 10 Engineering
Innovations in Nigeria every year. This can be done using existing and new platforms that will
be established. The Foundations Action Plan may include but not limited to the following
suggestions:
i. Playing advocacy roles for promoting commercialization activities in Nigeria.

25

ii.

Set up a mechanism or project for establishing an electronic database of all innovations

and commercializable R&D coming out of Nigerias Innovation System including
Universities, Research Institutes, Polytechnics and other higher institutions, informal
sector inventors, industries, etc. Such a database which should have artificial intelligence
built in should be continuously populated and the information disseminated worldwide.
It should also assist in forging partnerships between inventors and investors towards
commercialization.

iii.

We must set up a national agenda for commercializing at least 10 innovations every year
from the national innovation system. This can be coordinated by the proposed
Foundation or any other body but must necessarily involve all stakeholders.

iv.

Organizations such as NOTAP and Copyright Commission should be strengthened to

increase their activities towards promoting and educating people on Intellectual Property
Rights, Patents and how to convert them to wealth.

v.

Special Funds should be created for commercialization. Such a fund can be channeled
towards strengthening existing Venture Capital Companies and encouraging the
establishment of new ones. Such companies should assist Knowledge Centres and
individuals to set up appropriate platforms such as spin-off companies, technology parks,
SME clusters, etc.

vi.

Strengthen the promotion of Made-in-Nigeria goods and services. The present efforts
concentrate on promotional campaigns but we must go beyond this to actual patronage
of such goods through instruments that can force people to do so as well as more
effective enforcement of Tariffs and bans on importation of certain items.

vii.

More serious efforts should be made by government towards funding and implementation
of the new National Policy on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI). This policy
recommends the establishment of a National Fund for Science, Innovation and
Competitiveness. The policy also has a major component on commercialization.

viii.

Institutions such as National Board for Technology Incubation and National Agency for
Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) should be strengthened to assist more
SMEs to adopt and commercialize new engineering innovations.

ix.

Encourage the establishment of Science Parks, Industrial Parks, Technology Parks,

Innovation and Maker Spaces etc. which should be attached to Knowledge Centres such
as Universities, Research Institutes, etc.

x.

Foster Research-Industry Linkages which will encourage industries to work with research
centres towards adopting products of research and development.
26

xi.

The Federal government, in collaboration with the states and Local governments should
set up a special programme to diversify the Nigerian economy through encouraging the
setting up of Industries to process the raw materials of this country. The Ward Based
SME Cluster Programme initiative by RMRDC should be strengthened and used as a
base to implement a local content programme similar to that of the Oil and Gas Sector.
This should be based on commercializing local engineering innovations and not by
importation of machinery. By developing and commercializing engineering technologies
for processing raw materials, the culture of machine building would have been instituted
in the society. Such a culture will enable Nigerians solve the infrastructure problems of
this country using endogenous technology and hence achieve sustainable development.

9. CONCLUSIONS
We have shown in this paper that all sectors of Nigerian economy are driven by imported
engineering technology, goods and services. This is partly why development has not been
sustainable in Nigeria. For Nigeria to succeed in sustainable development efforts must be made
to harness and commercialize the numerous innovations generated from Knowledge Centres
including the informal sector inventors and also cutting research and development work must be
promoted to generate innovations.
The establishment of a National Engineering Technology and Innovation Commercialization
Foundation is proposed. Such a Foundation should work with existing Government agencies and
Knowledge Centres to: conduct an audit of the commercializable R&D products in Nigeria;
commercialize at least 10 innovations every year in Nigeria; strengthen the engineering
infrastructure base for commercialization in Nigeria; encourage the emergence of more Venture
Capital Companies to support budding enterprise based on innovations and encourage the
establishment of Technology Business Park close to knowledge centres and implement a
deliberate policy of patronage of the goods and services that will be produced through these
efforts. Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Nigerian Society of
Engineers (NSE) and Nigeria Academy of Engineering (NAE) should midwife the emergence of
this Foundation or any other platform that can address the suggestions above. Above all, a
deliberate policy of local content for the non oil sector should be pursued towards diversification
of the Nigerian economy.

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www.bcit.ca/appliedresearch

APPENDIX I
Commercializable RD results from parastatals of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology (FMST,
2009)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19

PRODUCTS

AGENCY

Neem Organic Fertilizer

Neem cake
Pesticides
Fertilizers
Animal feeds
Tissue culture techniques
Bio-organic fertilizer
Temporary Immersion Bioreactor System
Bar code of life for genetic mapping
Flash drier for high quality cassava flour (HQCF) production
Production and marketing of honey in sachets
Establishment of a milk collection centre (MCC)
Production of Soy sauce
Production of Furfural urea fertilization for maize cobs
Palm kernel Waste into organic fertilizer
Development of different products from cashew
Technologies for value addition to agricultural raw materials
(Groundnut, Cocoa, Benniseed, Castor, Oil palm, cassava)
Updated, digitized tsetse distribution map of Nigeria to aid
rational location of livestock development projects
Mass production of sterile males of four Glossina species of
economic importance (for Tsetse fly and Trypanosomiasis control)

NARICT
NARICT
NARICT
NARICT
NARICT
NABDA
NABDA
NABDA/SHESTCO
NABDA
RMRDC
RMRDC
RMRDC
RMRDC
RMRDC
RMRDC
RMRDC
RMRDC
NITR
NITR
31

20
21

34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45

Slow release Nitrogen fertilizer from Urea and maize-cob

Stabilized plant growth hormone and organic fertilizer from
Moringa Olefeira
Neem oil
Neem Biopesticide
Bio-fuel
Azadiracthin technical grade for export
Hydrated lime
Industrial Chemicals
Leather & Leather Goods (Pouffs,Shoes,Bags,Customs made
military boots, leather mats, belts, FIFA Grade Football
Foot wear designLeather products goods production
Production of Canned and pouched Tilapia fish
Upscaling of Mushroom, Essential Oil, Glucose Syrup and Honey
Biogas from organic waste
ECOSAN(ecological sanitation )-human excreta is collected and
reused in agriculture
Production of fruit juice concentrates
Molecular Diagnostic facilities
Bagaruwa Processing Machine
Eco-friendly Smokeless Stove
PRODA School pencil
Briquettes production
FIIRO Mechanized Gari
FIIRO Soy-ogi
FIIRO Bottled Palm Wine
Potable Alcohol
Composite flour
Bar Soap, Sorghum malt, Cassava-based Custard, Pellets and Fufu

46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55

Carbonated Fruit Juice

Tomato paste/Ketchup
Gums, Glues/adhesives
Cassava Starch, Flour
Mushrooms and Spawns, Porcelain Insulator and Water filter
Neem Antiseptic Soap
Cassava Noodles, Cleanser/Degreaser
Kenaf Fibre
Gamma Irradiation Facility
Sericulture development project (production of silk)

22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33

SHESTCO
SHESTCO
NARICT
NARICT
NARICT
NARICT
NARICT
NARICT
NARICT
CHELTECH
NABDA
NABDA
NABDA
NABDA
NABDA
NABDA
NASENI
NASENI
PRODA
PRODA
FIIRO
FIIRO
FIIRO
FIIRO
FIIRO
FIIRO
FIIRO
FIIRO
FIIRO
FIIRO
FIIRO
FIIRO
FIIRO
FIIRO
FIIRO
SHESTCO
RMRDC
32

56
57

Essential oil processing plant with NARICT

Development of Moringa products. (Water treatment, Oil food
supplement)
Development of Glacier Putty
Development of small scale salt processing plant
Development of calcinated kaolin as a substitute for titanium
dioxide in the paint industry
Industrial Production of Thaumatin (Thaumatococcus Danielli)
Extraction, Purification and Product Development Facility
Cellulose from Agricultural Waste
Design and fabrication of spray Driers for small scale industry
Production of Laboratory Chemicals and Reagents
Development of Stabilized Aloe Vera Gel and powder Grade
Technologies for processing mineral (kaolin, Baryte, phosphate,
Talc, Soda ash)
Preparation and characterization of epoxidization of rubber seed
oil for use in Polymer processing
Glazier Putty Pilot Plants
Natural rubber reinforced with spent plastics
Preparation and characterization of Alkyd Resin using rubber seed
Slow release Nitrogen fertilizer from Urea and maize-cob
Cassava peeling machine
Motorized plantain slicer
Manual Ginger slicer
Cassava Pelletizer
Development of Palm wine flavour
Development and production of Simulated Palm wine - palmie

RMRDC
RMRDC

78

i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
ix.
x.

ECN

79
80

Production of Biofuel plant

High Resolution Satellite (NigeriaSat-2 and Nigeria Sat-X)

58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77

small scale hydropower

improved woodstove
solar home system
solar cookers
solar dryers
solar water heater
Solar still
Solar PV application
Biogas digesters
Wind electricity converters

RMRDC
RMRDC
RMRDC
RMRDC
RMRDC
RMRDC
RMRDC
RMRDC
RMRDC
RMRDC
RMRDC
RMRDC
RMRDC
SHESTCO
FIIRO
FIIRO
FIIRO
FIIRO
FIIRO
FIIRO

NABDA
NASRDA
33

81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89

Primary Science Kits

Secondary Science Kits
Cassava Processing Plant (CPP)
Small Hydro Power (SHP)
Solar Panel Manufacturing Plant (SPMP), Karshi
8-Mould Brick Making Machine
Deep Water Well Drilling Rig (NASENI/NWRI)
PRODA Porcelain Insulator
Manual Brickmaking Machine

NASENI
NASENI
NASENI
NASENI
NASENI
NASENI
NASENI
PRODA
NBRRI

90

Electrohydraulic Brickmaking machine

NBRRI

91

Interlocking Block making Machine

NBRRI

92

Laterite Grinding machine

NBRRI

93
94

Laterite Mixing Machine

Manual paving Stone Machine

NBRRI
NBRRI

95

Pedestrian Roller Compactor

NBRRI

96
97

Fiber Concrete Roofing Tile making machine

Clay Roofing Tile making machine

NBRRI
NBRRI

98

Cassava peeling machine, Extruder, Motorized Plantain slicer, FIIRO

manual Ginger Slicer, Okro Slicer etc

99

Cassava pelletizer ,Juice Extractor etc

FIIRO

100

Design and fabrication of flash drier for high quality cassava flour
(HQCF) production
Design, construction and testing of a motorized briquetting
machine for wood and agriculture wastes
Development of small scale salt processing plant
Production of Multi-purpose Driers for dried mango chips

RMRDC

101
102
103
104
105
106

RMRDC
RMRDC
RMRDC

Technologies for processing mineral (kaolin, Baryte, phosphate, RMRDC

Talc, Soda ash)
Glazier Putty Pilot Plants
RMRDC
Central Electromechanical Workshop with CNC machines
SHESTCO
34

107

Design and fabrication of Sawdust Burner

108

Production of Biogas and Biofertiilizer from Animal waste using FIIRO

42m3 Floating Digester

109
110
111
112

Herbal Arthritis Ointment

Herbal Cough Syrup
Herbal Mosquitoes Repellent
Silicone Centrifugation Technique for detection of low number
parasites in blood of infected hosts
NITTSE Traps for catching riverine and savanna species of Tsetse
flies
Insecticides
Rapid Diagnostic Kits for Malaria, Hepatitis B & C
Special Traps for catching Black flies
Mass production of sterile males of four Glossina species of
economic importance (for Tsetse fly and Trypanosomiasis control)

113
114
115
116
117

FIIRO

NNMDA
NNMDA
NNMDA
NITR
NITR
NARICT
NABDA
NITR
NITR

Source: Federal Ministry of Science and Technology

35