Nigeria @59: viable venture capital market, challenge facing STI sector – Expert

As Nigeria celebrates 59 independence anniversary on Oct. 1, a Professor of Chemical Enginnering,. Okechukwu Ukwuoma, has identified absence of venture capital market as one of the challenges in the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) sector.

Ukwuoma, Director-General of National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM), said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

The director-general said if the country did not have viable venture market, the research and development output would not be commercialised.

“When we have research and development output that is commerciable, then, the country will be productive.

“It is because of this gap that is making it look as if Nigerians are not productive in the area of research and development.

“Also, people prefer to buy things abroad instead of looking inward to develop what we have and patronise our own indigenous technologies.

“These are some of the reasons why science and technology is not making the really news,’’ he said.

According to him, the advancement in STI has been trajectory, since independence because the Ministry of Science and Technology has had teething problem in delivery on its mandate effectively.

The director-general said another problem was the policy of merger and demerger of the ministry with other agencies.

“It has not been a smooth trajectory for the ministry which has affected the development of science and technology in the country,’’ he said.

Ukwuoma commended the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, for projecting the sector and giving it a different perspective.

He said one of the activities that the minister introduced was STI Expo, which had been holding for the past three years.

“The Expo showcases what Nigerians are producing, what researchers are producing and all these things are documented.

“Anybody who wants to know what is available in the sphere of STI, it can be made available from the documented information from the Expo.’’

In addition, he said another challenge in the sector was the ability to measure achievement since the output of STI was not tangible.

“They don’t produce something that is very tangible, most of the outputs are based on intellectual capital not like as like works sector that performance is based on road projects.’’

Ukwuoma further mentioned funding as one of the challenges in the sector, saying: “ funding is the basis for STI, funding being the basis also means that we should encourage Nigerians to look inward.

“ Encourage them do not mean that we should call them to market but to provide enabling environment.

“Once the enabling environment is there, then people can look inward and see what they can produce, once the enabling environment is not there, it will discourage venture capitalists to invest in the sector.’’

The Ministry of Science and Technology has the mandate to facilitate the development and deployment of science and technology apparatus to enhance the pace of socio-economic development of the country. (NAN)