The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) plans to assist polytechnics with between N1 billion and N1.5 billion every to determine manufacturing strains for regionally made items beneath an initiative geared toward lowering Nigeria’s dependence on imports.
The NBTE Director-General, Prof. Idris Bugaje, disclosed this at a strategic session involving the World Association of Industrial and Technological Research Organisations (WAITRO), Nigerian tertiary establishments and the organised non-public sector, organised by the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) in Abuja.
Bugaje mentioned the initiative, tagged One Product, One Polytechnic (1P1P), would require every polytechnic to fabricate at the very least one product regionally.
He argued that Nigeria ought to be producing gadgets corresponding to wheelbarrows as an alternative of counting on imports, regardless of having technical establishments and analysis services able to supporting native manufacturing.
The NBTE chief blamed the disconnect between educational analysis and {industry} for the failure of many analysis findings to translate into commercially viable merchandise.
“Nigerian researchers are not talking to the industry,” he mentioned, urging researchers to contain producers, customers and different end-users from the start of their initiatives.
Bugaje confused that polytechnics and technical and vocational training and coaching establishments deserved better consideration due to their function in growing sensible expertise for manufacturing, infrastructure and technological innovation.
Citing the Dangote Refinery challenge, he mentioned the involvement of hundreds of Indian employees, together with technicians and different expert personnel, highlighted gaps in Nigeria’s technical training system.
He known as for industry-driven curricula, fashionable laboratories and workshops, and {industry} advisory boards to make sure graduates purchase related expertise.
He additionally advocated partnerships with non-public corporations to supply gear, promote office coaching and remodel institutional workshops into manufacturing and restore centres.
Drawing classes from China’s industrial growth, Bugaje mentioned technical establishments ought to mix classroom instruction with sensible manufacturing.
He disclosed that proposed amendments to the Polytechnic Act have been anticipated to handle discrimination between Higher National Diploma holders and college graduates by enabling polytechnics to award Bachelor of Technology levels whereas retaining the National Diploma pathway.
Earlier, RMRDC Director-General, Prof. N. Ike-Muonso, known as for stronger hyperlinks between analysis establishments and {industry} to maximise the financial worth of Nigeria’s sources.
A Tertiary Education Trust Fund consultant, Dr. Conforto-Chamberlain, mentioned the fund was prioritising analysis able to producing commercially viable merchandise.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ike Willie Nwobu criticised the restricted sensible publicity of some engineering and agricultural graduates, urging stronger collaboration between larger establishments and RMRDC.
He questioned how graduates might purchase satisfactory skilled competence with out sensible entry to farms, livestock and related industrial services.
Stakeholders known as for sustained collaboration amongst authorities businesses, researchers and companies to show analysis into industrial progress.
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