…To establish reverse engineering centre in UniAbuja
As part of efforts to protect Nigeria’s territory and combat insecurity in the nation, the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) is set to enter a partnership with the Nigerian Army on manpower, development of machinery and spare parts for the army.
This was revealed by the executive vice-chairman of NASENI, Prof. Mohammed Haruna when he received the Chief of Transformation and Innovation Center, Maj. Gen. C. Ofoche and his team who paid him a courtesy call at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja.
According to Haruna, the agency has the requisite manpower to engage in reverse engineering of armoured cars, helicopters and other machinery needed by the army to aid the battle against insecurity in Nigeria.
Earlier, Ofoche said the courtesy call was to revive all existing working collaborations between the agency and the Nigerian Army, especially in specific areas of innovation, research and development.
He said with research and development, Nigeria could begin the manufacturing of machines and spare parts using her indigenous resources (human and material resources) as the nation could no longer continue to consume imported finished products, adding that, it is wasteful and [shows a] lack of diligent exploration of citizens’ creative minds and innovation which had kept Nigeria where she is today.
“Until we start producing 80 per cent of all the critical machines and spare parts which Nigeria, we will not meet up with global standard and trends or competitiveness. We need to be competitive in everything we do.”
He, however, commended NASENI’s efforts in promoting the development of science, technology and innovation in Nigeria, adding that, collaborating with the agency will enable both parties to nurture the nation’s vast natural resources.
“R&D is the way to go and with army applications, we can defeat the bad people and make Nigeria better,” he stressed.
In a related development, the NASENI boss also received a delegation from the University of Abuja (UniAbuja), led by the varsity’s vice-chancellor, Prof. Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah, on a courtesy call to seek the agency’s collaboration on the establishment of Reverse Engineering and Innovation Centre on the school’s campus.
According to him, the visit was aimed at renewing the existing memorandum of understanding (MoU) between both organisations which was signed in 2014.
Na’Allah said the centre will lead to the creation of indigenous engineering designs capacity and manufacturing to meet the challenges of improving the nation’s local industries.
“When established, the centre is expected to help Nigeria conserve foreign exchange spending resulting from her dependence on importation and to cut down capital flights while creating employment opportunities; thus, raising the standard of living of the general population,” he said.
Also, he inputted that the proposed centre will also provide value-added, manufacturing processes that will lead to employment generation. “It will lead to the much-desired university-industry linkages which, hopefully, will revolutionise industrial development of Nigeria,” he said.
As contained in the proposal by the university, NASENI staff will easily work with the university as joint research staff on many fronts as the centre will be located within the university to be managed through collaborative efforts by both bodies. “It will focus, amongst others, on furnace manufacturing, energy and power equipment, miscellaneous components, devices and systems, and many more.”
In his response, Haruna expressed the agency’s readiness to work with the university in establishing the centre in reverse engineering and innovation and promote the importance of R&Ds in the development of the nation’s economy. He said such a move is within the mandate of the agency.
