Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, the first executive governor of Abia State and outgoing Minister of Science and Technology, on the twilight of this dispensation, takes us through his experiences in the ministry.
How would you rate your ministry now; looking at where it was before you assumed work four years ago?
It’s not very fair for me to rate myself, but, with all humility, I will say that the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, under my leadership, has shown Nigerians that no nation can become truly great without science and technology. I am happy that, today, if you open newspapers, listen to television and radio, you will see and hear Nigerians talk about science and technology. The awareness has been created and today we have formulated policies that can transform our economy. For the first time in the history of Nigeria, the economic recovery and growth plan puts Science Technology and Innovation first. We have come up with a number of policies.
For example; our science and innovation growth plan will live for 13 years. It will have short, medium and long term goals, precisely to give assignment to all ministries, departments and agencies. We have laid a foundation for all MDAs so that they know what to do at any particular time. We also have the national strategy for competitiveness to boost raw materials production in Nigeria and that strategy is the key because despite the fact that Nigeria has a lot of raw materials, we still import many of the raw materials used by industries. We cannot continue to do this because, by relying on importation, we are weakening our currency. Then, we have the leather policy, which is the first in the history of the nation. Since Independence we’ve never had a leather policy, yet leather is so important to our economy. The policy will not only help us to mobilize all stakeholders in the leather sector, but it will make us utilize the leather that we have to produce all leather products.
The revolutionary Executive Order No 5 is also strategic. It has very big implications for the economy. We have four refineries in the country today. We have two in Port Harcourt, the first one was established in the 1960s, but if you want to build a refinery today, you have to bring in foreigners to do it for you. Now, look at Brazil, they built Brazil about the same time we built Abuja. Yes, Abuja is a beautiful capital city, but in the case of Brazil, they said ‘‘we will have Brazil, as a beautiful city and also we are going to have Brazilians know how to build another Brazil’’. So they understudied the foreigners. This is what the Executive Order is all about. It says if you have professionals who are Nigerians, whether they are resident here in the country or in the Diaspora, you can’t bring professionals of equivalent capabilities for the same jobs. We have within the past three years and above increased the awareness of people on this very important sector and we have created an enabling environment for us as a nation to start thinking of producing products that we need.
Some people see Nigeria as a graveyard of policies, because not much is heard about implementation, like the pencil policy, for instance. Shortly after you came in you said Nigeria will soon commence its production, what happened?
I will disagree with all those who say that. The policies we have at the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology are already being implemented. We are now using more of our raw materials. For example, at our National Research Institute in Zaria, we are upgrading many of the raw materials we have and also developing high yielding seeds. So, right now, we are already using more raw materials in our industries. Then, there is the road map that I mentioned to you. So I don’t want to think that this is just a policy that will go the way others have gone down. We are implementing. And if you take, for example, the commercialization of research, this is something that is very important but we didn’t do before. We are also at a very advanced stage now in commercializing a new way to manage sickle cell anaemia.
Now, for the pencil project, you know I told Nigerians that I felt bad because pencil is something that we use from primary school up to university level, because those who study architecture and some other persons work with pencil. I am happy that the production has started. When I raised that concern, the government of Akwa Ibom State showed interest and they are now producing pencils. If you go there they will show you the pencil that they are producing. But my interest is to make sure that every component part of that pencil originates from our own locally-available materials. You know, the Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation was established by late President Shehu Shagari, but at some point, it was as if Nigeria didn’t know what to do with it. There was a time it was merged with another ministry and then there was a time it was scrapped completely. Later, they reconstituted it. So you can see the sort of ministry that I had to administer. And this is a very important ministry that should really direct development of the country, not just the economy. It affects all areas, including security and even corruption. There is no way you can fight corruption without technology.
You spoke about high crop varieties. Have you commercialized them?
Yes, cotton is one of them. They are many others. Our textile industry used to be the employer of labour, but that changed a long time ago. But the ministry, working with NAFDAC, developed new cotton seeds that are of higher quality with strong resistant. It has been commercialized and has been distributed to the farmers; this will help us to revive the textile industries. Cotton has many by-products that will be beneficial to the country.
What happens when the Chinese bring in cheaper products and frustrate the local industrial technology?
That is what the Executive Order Number 5 is all about. You see, Nigeria is lucky because of its population. There are problems and challenges, but also from so many points of view it is good. With a large population, we have a large market, and when you have a large market, investors would want to come because they want to sell their goods. We are saying that anybody who wants to sell these things should come, establish its factory and sell in Nigeria here. That is part of this Executive Order. This Order is revolutionary; we have never had anything like it.
Going back to the pencil production, you promised that the nation will start producing pencils two years ago. Now, you said they’ve started producing in Akwa Ibom. Are you satisfied with that?
No, I didn’t say we would produce pencils in two years, that wasn’t what I said. I was in Enugu at Project Development Institute, PRODA, and I saw an equipment which they had. So, I said look when you have a vision, give the responsibility for their implementation to the people under you. That’s the only way you can get results. I saw the facilities at PRODA and we talked about it, so I urged them to produce pencils from locally sourced materials. The wood is there, the paint is there and the rubber is there. I asked them how long it would take and they said they said two years. That was how the two years you referred to came about.
Our plan was that by now we should be building our own satellite. We have not achieved that because of the recession we got into, as it is an expensive project, but very soon we will have it.
Any target date?
We had some dates but we couldn’t meet up. Until the economy improves substantially, it will not be nice to give a date because the amount of money needed is much.
The major problem that we are facing in Nigeria now is insecurity. In what way is the ministry partnering security agents?
We are partnering relevant agencies, but these are not things that we should discuss publicly. However, we are conscious of the fact that we need to make important contributions in that area.
From the foundation you have laid, would you like to continue it? How would you feel if the president appoints you again as minister?
That is totally the president’s prerogative. But let me just say that the way we ran that ministry, it will be difficult to have continuity problem because what I did was that I carried everybody along.
You recently spoke on curing malaria using nuclear energy; can you throw more light on that?
Yes, malaria affects many people, especially children and it reduces the productivity of people. So, as a nation, we must have a vision to eradicate malaria. Now, if you eradicate malaria in Nigeria, you may not succeed because even if you succeed temporarily, anybody who has malaria coming in from neighbouring country can infect citizens. So the use of nuclear technology is very important; just like birth control. We can use nuclear technology, because actually it’s the female mosquito that transmits malaria. So the male mosquito does not participate at all but if we sterilize the male mosquito, then you do birth control and after some time all the mosquitoes will just disappear. That is the principle, and you know it has worked with Tsetse fly. And Tsetse fly is another deadly thing because it affects both human beings and livestock. So a number of countries that have used the technology are doing the same birth control and sterilizing the male so that you put out those millions of sterilized male. After sometime they will just die and so on. Mosquitoes even have a short lifespan so it will be easier if we are able to do that.
What are your thoughts on South-East presidency in 2023?
What we are saying is that all the other five zones have produced a president. It is only the South-east that has not and that Nigeria has men and women who believe in the country and justice. So I believe that ultimately they will come together to say let’s allow the South-East to bring somebody who is acceptable to Nigerians.
