
By Stanley Iwuoha
Nigeria’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji, says the country has no other place to belong apart from the top global competitive economies, going by the enormous talents, vibrant and skilled youth population and rich natural resources it possesses .
Nigeria’s population is estimated above 220 million. Youth population in that number is about 70 percent, although 40 percent out of the youth population is below 15 years, there is an incredible amount of talents and skilled people among them.
Nigeria has huge natural resources including Oil and Gas, Gold and Iron ore among others. So many of Nigeria’s natural resources have not really, been effectively tapped.
The Minister made the claim on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of the National Consultative Committee on Competitiveness (NCCC) Technical Workshop/Conference for the implementation of the National Strategy for Competitiveness in Raw Materials and Products Development in Nigeria held in Abuja.
With the abundant raw materials, from solids, metals and energy minerals to agro-raw materials available in the country, he said that mere possession of these resources does not guarantee economic prosperity but lies in developing the raw materials into high-quality products, which is a necessity and a strategic imperative for national growth and global competitiveness.
He said, ‘‘In an increasingly interconnected human society, he said competitiveness on the global stage is no longer optional but is indeed imperative, stating that global competitiveness remains the lifeblood of any thriving economy as it underscores the ability to produce goods and services that meet the standards of the international markets, while simultaneously strengthening the citizen’s long-term real income.
‘‘We are aware of several challenges facing us as a country. However, I wish to reiterate that our path to global competitiveness lies in leveraging the enormous powers of innovation, science and technology in value-addition and indigenous industrialization.’’
The National Strategy for Competitiveness in Raw Materials and Products Development in Nigeria, with its Implementation Plan, was developed by the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) under the supervision of the Ministry.
It aims to champion our country’s global competitiveness diversification through investments in innovation and technology, R&D, infrastructure, data development and management, industrialization, competitiveness advocacy, legal and policy frameworks, institutional/organizational development, and human capital development.
The Strategy received approval from the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at its meeting on Wednesday, 17th May 2017.
The target of the strategy is to facilitate significant reductions in the imports of raw materials and products that are (or can easily be) readily available in- country but massively imported into the country by at least 11% in the short term (0 to 5 years), 31% in the medium (5 to 10 years) and 49% in the long term (10 years & above), respectively.
On the target benefits, the Minister said the Strategy was designed to create 4.4 million jobs; boosting local content in manufacturing to 50% and 80% in the short and long terms, respectively; increasing global acceptance of Made-in-Nigeria raw materials, products, and services; boosting foreign exchange earnings and reserve; steady development of demand-driven scientific industrial culture; industry-research strategic alliances with the resultant production of high- quality and competitive raw materials and products, graduation of market- ready students from knowledge centres, and overall diversification of the economy.
‘‘In an increasingly interconnected human society, competitiveness on the global stage is no longer optional; it is indeed imperative. Global competitiveness is the lifeblood of any thriving economy as it underscores the ability to produce goods and services that meet the standards of the international markets, while simultaneously strengthening the citizen’s long-term real income.
‘’‘President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, deliberately renamed my Ministry the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology. This action was contingent on the President’s understanding that innovation, science and technology are the cornerstones of global competitiveness. His interest is to ensure continuous investment in cutting-edge technologies that can improve the quality of local raw materials, products and the lives of Nigerians. Our efforts to establish Tinubu Technology City align with this understanding.’’
Nnaji, further revealed that all the priority areas of Tinubu’s administration are in tandem with the fundamental objectives of the Global Competitiveness Strategy. ‘‘Indeed, we are aligning the implementation of the National Strategy with the administration’s priority areas through data mapping and other projects associated with the Strategy focus areas.
‘‘Under my supervision, RMRDC maps the spatial distribution, quality and quantity, exploitation extent, exploration risks, and prospects of strategic and critical raw materials in solid minerals and metals, agriculture, and energy. We shall deploy the data generated from this exercise in value chain development, market analysis, access to the market and review of government programmes and policies related to raw materials exploitation and utilization.
‘‘To facilitate the proliferation and growth of MSMES, RMRDC is revamping the establishment of resource-based industrial clusters in Nigeria. This initiative aims to promote the optimal utilization of Nigeria’s abundant raw materials. It will also ensure that MSMEs can access local raw materials easily, reducing import dependency and lowering production costs.
According to him, the workshop was designed as platforms for veritable inputs, guidelines, and actionable strategies to implement the national strategy successfully and one of the strategic issues for deliberation at the subcommittee’s syndicate meetings is the Competitiveness Project Desk Office (CPDO) status in every implementing agency.
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Esuabana Nko said the need to diversify Nigeria’s economy for global competitiveness cannot be overemphasized because ‘‘nations are now facing increasing competition as trade globalization intensifies and progressively transforms the global economy into a vast free trade zone.’’
While commending Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) for championing the implementation of this National Strategy in its role as the Secretariat of the Strategy Implementation Task Unit (SITU), the PS said the conference was a forum to discuss crucial issues relevant to the successful implementation of the National Strategy with the theme “Harnessing Local Resources for Diversifying Nigeria Economy and Enhancing Global Competitiveness Ranking”.
She encouraged all stakeholders to continue to form strategic coalitions with the resultant production of high-quality and competitive raw materials and products to ensure steady improvement of Nigeria’s ranking on the Global Competitiveness Index.
The event witnessed representations from Ministries, Departments & Agencies (MDAS), Organised Private Sector (OPS), academia, development partners, civil society organisations and the media at this conference today.