In a poorly conceived campaign aimed at technological advancement and infrastructure development, the previous administration embarked on the establishment of 17 Advance Manufacturing Technology (ATM) Institutes. While, in itself, this is a laudable and necessary move, its implementation structure appears insufficient. In keeping with the same old method of throwing money at problems, government has failed yet again to take the concrete steps necessary for a credible solution.
These Institutes appear to have emerged as a result of the continuing need to advance the nation’s technical knowledge and revive its crumbling manufacturing sector. This, of course, is a positive goal. But the locusts responsible for the decay of the manufacturing sector remain unfettered and may seize upon this new opportunity as a way of ravaging the funds that are appropriated for the development of the Institutes. Unless a well-defined policy structure backed by a stringent implementation process is executed, the project may end up in the same wasteland as other abandoned projects.
Composites technology, for example, has been exceptionally revolutionary in material engineering. Although the technology is not new, engineering advances have resulted in highly desirable composites materials that can be applied in practically all industries from highly sensitive military applications to domestic wares. In fact, composites are quickly replacing many structural materials such as steel, aluminum, and wood as the material of choice due to their light weight, strength, high resistance to corrosion, low conductivity, and many other desirable attributes.
While South Africa has developed a fairly sophisticated national strategy on composites technology with a push toward capturing a substantial composites technology market share, the same cannot be said of Nigeria. According to a report by K. Parker of the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Strategy Implementation Unit of South Africa, “The South African composites market is relatively mature and is characterised by many small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) with about 12,000 people directly employed in the industry. It currently consumes around 25 000 tons of resin and about 10 000 tons of reinforcement and the biggest single user of composites materials by industry classification is the construction industry (35%), followed by transport (23%). Raw material sales are estimated at R1.1 billion. This compares with raw material sales in the French and UK markets of around R7 billion and R1.5 billion respectively”. Sadly, it seems that policy formulators have failed to recognize that Nigeria may once again overlook the next great thing due to the government’s myopic policy strategies.
Make no mistake about it, Advance Manufacturing Technology (ATM) pursuits are not your run-of-the-mill programs. These endeavors require research in the most advanced or emerging technologies which are critical to the production of superior materials and engineering techniques. These technologies and materials are vital to any nation’s developmental aspirations. The lack or absence of such technological knowledge confines nations such as Nigeria to chains of poverty and stunted development, their economies perpetually fettered to the export of their limited natural commodities. This has been the delineator between rich and poor nations of the world since the beginning of industrialization. To escape such a tortuous circle of developmental stagnation, governments strategize globally and aggressively to acquire Advance Manufacturing Technology (ATM) for their countries’ developmental growth. To do otherwise would be irreversibly detrimental.
Nigeria is routinely misled by insidious economic strategists. An emphasis on boosting Nigeria’s comparative advantage due to its local resources has only led to a redundant addiction to the nation’s oil exports. With easy petro-dollars rolling in, successive governments continue to pay lip service to manufacturing technology acquisitions and implement lackluster techno-policies that have neither direction nor bite. Consequently, the results of these indiscretions continue to plague the manufacturing sector with an overwhelming intensity that manifests in serious macro-economic distortions.
In the past decade, Nigeria’s manufacturing value added as a percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 4% compared to Pakistan’s 15%, South Africa’s 19%, South Korea’s 31%, and China’s 35%. The most recent statistics would probably be too depressing to publish since most of the supporting cast of national productivity sectors languish in persistent decline. A major concern is the compromised power sector that has forced many manufacturing industries to close shop or relocate to neighboring countries—a clear indicator of the absence of an enabling business environment. Apparently, it is no longer surprising to find Nigeria consistently listed among the bottom ranking nations with the least developed indices in manufacturing technology.
To be fair, many African governments, including Nigeria, recognize the urgency to rapidly encourage a technology transfer between countries, a diversity of export of primary commodities, and a plan to sustain an enabling business environment. However, the political will to execute the essential steps toward these efforts is, unfortunately, lacking. Without a doubt, technology transfers between nations are a murky business where extensive horse-trading by businesses and governments require far-reaching, yet tactful maneuvers. Although the role of government in advanced technological endeavors may appear passive, this is superficially diplomatic since most governments are knee-deep in the technology transfer barter.
The decision of the Nigerian Federal Government to establish the 17 ATM Institutes is apparently an attempt at reversing the decay in the manufacturing sector, closing the huge technology gap, and rescuing the nation from the league of bottom feeders that supply raw extractive commodities to the global economy. However, the mere establishment of these institutes without a proper foundation to receive the incoming technical knowledge or identify key industries to absorb the technical skill or material output is a recipe for failure. Human capital, power, and an enabling business environment are requisite elements for practicable technology transfer. Equally important is how the technological policy specifies the application of resources in terms of cost benefits for the development of highly revolutionary materials or technology such as composites.
Clearly, Nigeria is in dire need of a comprehensive composites technology strategy that provides unambiguous blueprints for deepening technical knowledge, application, and transfer of composites technology. To ensure successful implementation, the present administration must look beyond ethnic or political persuasions to formulate workable techno-policies in composites development. It is also important for the government to refrain from setting illogical, astronomical targets and timelines for the acquisition of the emerging technologies.
Additionally, the Nigerian government must stimulate the local market by increasing the use of these high performance materials in critical sectors of the country’s infrastructure, including incentives for local entrepreneurs to invest or develop composites technology. Without an alluring market, foreign investment and technology transfer will no doubt be difficult to attract and sustain in Nigeria.
Emma Adoghe, a member of the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering, Covina, CA, is the CEO of CP Fiberglass
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