For too long, Nigeria has depended largely on imported finished goods to the detriment of its local industrial sector to the end that there are low capacity utilisation and the attendant job losses. But, Dr. Mrs. Gloria Elemo, Director-General, Federal Institute of Industrial Research (FIIRO), Oshodi is beginning to influence the industrial landscape by getting local industrialists to tap into the technologies capable of positively changing the profitability of operations. Elemo spoke to FABIAN ODUM on the progress the Institute has made in the past two years she assumed headship of the foremost research body. Excerpts.

Since taking over as DG two years ago, would you say you have struck a better relationship with the industry than in the past; how?

FIIRO’s primary constituency is the industry. The broad mandate of the institute is to assist in rapid industrialisation of the national economy through processing of local raw materials into forms suitable for use in industries, development and upgrading indigenous technologies and transfer of developed technologies to industry most especially the SMEs for commercial production and marketing. Relevance to industry therefore, became the yardstick for measuring the Institute’s achievement.

Since I resumed duty, I have made commercialisation of the Institute’s R&D results through acquisition of entrepreneurial skills and industrial linkage my priority. We have made some modest achievements in terms establishing a better relationship with the industry within these two years. We are currently renewing relationship and opening up discussions on strategic collaborations with the likes of Nestle Nig. Plc, Honeywell Group, Chi Group and so on. We have signed MoUs with some of these companies on some specific projects that could result in commercial production activities based on some technologies developed in the Institute.

In our attempt to foster effective linkage with the industry, the Institute sought approval from the Head of Service of the Federation for the establishment of the Department of Extension and Industrial Linkages to properly coordinate the Institute’s activities with the industry. We were lucky to get the approval alongside with other approvals to establish Departments of Production and Analytical Services as well as Finance and Accounts.

What have you brought to bear on the industry in terms of technology/research applications since you took over at the Institute?

Within two years, we have been able to properly package some technologies ready for the industry to take up for commercial production. These include industrial enzymes production, ready-to-eat-therapeutic-foods based on local cereals and legumes, High Nutrient Density (HND) biscuits and drinks and tomato processing.

Also, we have developed food products for the elderly, and people with increased nutritional requirements such as people living with HIV including diabetics.

We have been able to bring the above projects to logical conclusion ready for industrial take up as a result of some cutting edge research facilities that we acquired recently. These include, Ultra Performer Liquid Chromatography, GC-MS Spectrometer; AAS; NIR; Fat Extractor, Florescene microscope to mention a few. The acquisition of these equipment has also facilitated our collaboration with some national and international universities for collaborative research work.

Apart from the Industry, what has been your collaboration with other stakeholders like universities, polytechnics, non-governmental organisations and other research institutes in Nigeria?

In the last two years, we have intensified our efforts at collaborating with Universities and other relevant organisations in and outside Nigeria. We have signed MoUs with Ondo State University of Science and Technology, Federal University of Technology, Owerri and Yaba College of Technology. The MoUs have started yielding fruitful results. Based on our collaboration, we have successfully installed Cassava bread, fruit juice and smoked fish machineries and equipment at Ondo State University of Science & Technology. Discussion is on advanced stage to commence a 3-month Certificate Course in Techno-entrepreneurship with Yaba College of Technology.

Some of the national institutions we are collaborating with are: Bank of Industry; Bank of Agriculture; Raw Materials Research and Development Council; Standards Organisation of Nigeria; National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control; Nigeria Export Promotion Council; Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria; National Poverty Eradication Programme; Nigeria Investment Promotion Council; National Directorate of Employment; National Youth Service Corps.

We have signed an MoU with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa while we are in the process of signing MoUs with the Standard and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (SIRIM) and the Food Research Institute of Ghana.

We are currently developing a model tomato processing plant with Alvan Blanch, a reputable food processing equipment fabricator in UK. The Institute also established collaboration with some non-governmental organizations that have relevance to its mandate. Prominent among these organizations we have working relationship with are: GAIN (Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition), WISHH (World Initiative for Soya in Human Health) and EU (GRATITUDE project – Gains from Losses in Tuber crops project).

How has the face of FIIRO changed in the last two years under your leadership?

The Institute has witnessed tremendous infrastructural development in the last two years, which some commentators have described as unprecedented in the history of the Institute.  Right from the gate, the Institute is now wearing a new look. A fully air-conditioned gatehouse and reception have been constructed with a 50-car capacity carport.

The Institute perimeter fencing has been fully renovated with massive horticultural and landscaping giving the Institute a new look. The road network within the Institute is currently being tarred. A solar lightening project is on going in the Institute to provide illumination for the Institute’s external environment.

To boost the revenue generation capacity of the Institute, the Institute’s Multi-purpose Hall has been fully renovated and fit to host any international conference and programmes.

Five laboratories have been fully remodeled to international standards while Directors and most of the Deputy Directors have been provided with befitting and decent office accommodation.

Which of your achievements in the last two years can you say you cannot easily forget?

Work is still in progress on a lot of projects. In research, you can spend years on a particular project before getting a breakthrough. Even though we have made some giant strides in the last two years, the best is yet to come but I cannot easily forget the first major assignment that confronted me as I was just resuming as the DG/CEO.

In August, 2011, when I was just settling down as the DG/CEO, I was faced with the accreditation of the Institute. The Nigerian Academy of Science was commissioned by the Federal Government to accredit some Research Institutes. The Institute came out on top with a five-year accreditation. This makes the Institute one of the best research institutes in Nigeria. It makes me so glad.

The approval we got from the Head of Service to establish Zonal Offices in the six geopolitical zones is also an achievement that cannot be dismissed by the wave of the hand. This will assist the Institute to spread its tentacle all over Nigeria for effectiveness of its operations. The North West Zonal Office, Kano has taken off fully. Arrangements have been concluded for the take off of the South-South, South West and the North East Zonal Offices.

What is your scorecard in the Transformation Agenda of Mr. President?

The Transformation Agenda document is a beautiful document. The agenda clearly indicated and spelt out the roles of science and technology in the achievement of its goals.

At the Institute, the Transformation Agenda is a priority and that is why we are using our mandate towards achieving goals of the Agenda especially in the areas of job creation, development of indigenous technologies, local content development, quality improvement for made in Nigeria goods and so on.

The Institute recently established Techno-entrepreneurship & Techno-economics Division to properly coordinate its entrepreneurship programmes to address the issue of increasing unemployment. Ours is a specialized entrepreneurship programme i.e. techno-entrepreneurship for promotion and development of technical enterprises based on the technologies developed at the Institute.

Due to increasing rate of unemployment, which is now estimated at about 24per cent, we have focused on collaboration with some Universities and Polytechnics in Nigeria in the area of entrepreneurship development training to reduce youth unemployment considering the thousands of graduates of tertiary institutions joining the labour market year-in-year-out.

Also, the Institute is enriching its weekly technology transfer training with some specific aspect of entrepreneurial skills to equip potential, aspiring and existing entrepreneurs on technology-based skills to prepare them for self-employment. To make the Institute’s technology transfer and techno-entrepreneurship programmes more effective, the Institute recently acquired nine complete set of technology transfer training equipment and relevant software for internet based entrepreneurship training in its newly renovated Tecno-entrepreneurship Training Room.

In the last two years, over 5,000 techno-entrepreneurs have been trained in and outside the Institute on various technologies developed at the Institute some of which have established profitable ventures generating hundreds of more employment.

The Institute is a known pioneer and leader in Cassava/wheat flour composite bread R&D. Recently, there has been so much talk about cassava bread with divergent views on the benefits and safety of consumption. What is your own view?

You are right, the Institute pioneered the cassava/wheat flour composite bread R&D. The research started way back in 1964, when the Institute was working on the project under the Composite flour programme initiated by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. Under this programme, the Institute worked with various crops including millet, sorghum, rice, maize, cassava etc. Cassava became very prominent in the composite flour programme because it is readily available and Nigeria, being its largest producer in the world and also because economics of production favor cassava compared to other crops that were used. The Institute has produced bread at various levels of inclusion of cassava flour ranging from five to 40per cent with huge success.

One of the best things that can happen to Nigeria now is the adoption of the cassava bread. It will help us to reduce the level of wheat importation and save foreign exchange. At 20per cent substitution, the nation will be saving about N127Billion. Also, at 20 per cent inclusion, the Flour Millers would require about 1,200,000 Metric tones of High Quality Cassava Flour per annum for their operations. This will require about 5,000 SMEs to produce with daily capacities ranging from 1 to 3 tonnes. This could generate about three million jobs both directly and indirectly.

Glycemic Indices studies carried out at the Institute have revealed that the nation has nothing to fear regarding the health implications of cassava bread. Cassava bread is healthy for human consumption and would not cause or aggravate diabetes all things being equal as insinuated in some quarters.

In other areas like paper/pulp, solid minerals, etc, what is the Institute doing to encourage investment?

We have shifted attention to waste-to-wealth projects in our Pulp and Paper programme. We are designing model plant for waste paper recycling as well as stimulating investment in that direction. Currently, R&D works are at an advanced stage in maximum utilization of:

- Kenaf for bag production for agricultural produces packaging.

-Kenaf and Agrowastes such as Palm bunches, corn sheath, pineapple leaves, maize stem etc for pulp, paper and packaging production.

The Institute has also worked extensively in the area of solid minerals. Some of the products developed at the Institute available for investment at small and medium scales based on the Institute’s R&D in solid minerals are: hydrated lime, precipitated calcium carbonate, refined kaolin, refined gypsum, plaster of Paris (P.O.P), School Chalk, Porcelain Insulator etc. Most of these products are been imported despite the fact that the nation has the technical capabilities and the raw materials to produce them.

What has been the working relationship with your staff in light of the national labour issues that FIIRO and other research organizations have faced?

The management of the Institute has very good working relationship with the Labour Unions operating in the Institute. The Federal Government has stepped in fully into the matter that resulted into the national strike and very soon all issues will be resolved for the sake of industrial harmony in research Institutes in Nigeria.