Oil has kept Nigeria away from meaningful growth - FIIRO DG

The Director-General of the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO), Jummai Adamu, has stressed the urgent need to diversify the Nigerian economy into areas other than oil, saying Nigeria’s over-reliance on oil is not doing the country any good.

Adamu stated this during the agency’s day at the ongoing Science, Technology and Innovation Expo 2023, organised by the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology.

She regretted that Nigeria’s mono-economy dependence on oil and gas, which he said is non-renewable, has kept the country far away from meaningful development that would have made the country respected among comity of nations.

According to her, diversification is the only viable way to survive the current environment of global economic uncertainty with the volatility of oil price, adding that Nigeria cannot play to the gallery.

She said: “As you may be aware, one of the key components that aid economic diversification is technology transfer, which is the innovation capabilities of any organisation that wants to thrive technologically. Increase in economic diversification will expose us to opportunities to utilise our technological prowess and become more capable to generate new technological solutions due to cross-fertilisation of ideas among different knowledge areas of diversification, thus, producing positive effects on our innovation performance.”

Considering the relevance of diversification, the FIIRO DG said the agency was making efforts to make sure it contributes its own quota towards the diversification agenda of the government driven by innovation.

“FIIRO has participated significantly in supporting the full diversification of our economy through our research breakthroughs. In order to support this drive, we have conducted cutting edge research on some raw materials readily available in Nigeria, leading to the development of not less than 250 technologies, resulting in the creation of profitable enterprises which invariably has led to generation of jobs through its multiplier effects, thereby reducing poverty and earning of foreign exchange.

“We also focused on R&D activities that are market-driven, demand-oriented and can move Nigeria from import dependent to sustainable self-reliant and production for exports. Some of our notable achievements”