Inventors’ Decaying Dreams
The conception of the institute in 1953. The World Bank had sent an economic mission to Nigeria. Members of the group, after several deliberations with stakeholders, made observations that industrial research in Nigeria was ‘diffused, uncoordinated, and with no definite direction.’ Thereafter, the mission recommended that an “Institute of Applied Technical Research” be set up […]
The conception of the institute in 1953. The World Bank had sent an economic mission to Nigeria. Members of the group, after several deliberations with stakeholders, made observations that industrial research in Nigeria was ‘diffused, uncoordinated, and with no definite direction.’ Thereafter, the mission recommended that an “Institute of Applied Technical Research” be set up immediately, as a result of this lopsidedness. Consequently, the institute was inaugurated in 1956 by an erstwhile Minister for Commerce and Industry. In February 1958, the name was changed to “Federal Institute of Industrial Research” thus claiming a name that is widely known by most Lagosians, FIIRO.
Originally, its supervising Ministry was the Federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry, but since its formation, it has come under different supervising bodies, the current one being the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology which has served as its parent body since 1992. It has also had a colourful succession of expatriates as its directors and chief executives. However, it had, from 1970 to 1977, its first indigenous director in the person of Dr Isaac Adedayo Akinrele. He was succeeded in 1977 by Dr Olajide Adedokun Koleoso, who left the stage in 1990, for Professor Sunday Ayodele Odunfa. Dr Oluwole Olatunji, the incumbent Director-General/Chief Executive, took over from Professor Odunfa in the year 2000. The institute is located at Blind Centre Street, adjacent to NITEL Training School, by Cappa Bus stop, Oshodi, off Agege Motor Road, Lagos.
The primary objective of FIIRO is to assist in accelerating the industrialization of the Nigerian economy through finding industrial utilization for the country’s raw materials and upgrading indigenous production techniques.
An institute in doldrums
The institute is located in the center of Lagos’ most busy enclave, Oshodi. That research and academic activities takes place amidst the din and confusion the area is known for is hard to believe, but yet this is what happens. A visit, however, to the institute reveals that all is not well with it. The workers are in a fierce battle with the authorities over what they term insensitivity on the part of those at the helms of affairs. According to them, funding of the institute is dismal, while the government’s promise on improved terms of services for them has not been kept, with no sign that the vow would ever see the light of day.
Union officials purportedly representing the interest of the workers, man the gates, taking over the services of the security officials. No human or vehicular movement is permitted into the premises. Even concerted pleas by visitors that their visits are unofficial, are met with stonewalling by the determined officers. A few moments later, more employees of the institute gather at the entrance to air their grievances against the government of the day. A massive ‘TOTAL STRIKE ACTION’ is scrawled on the gates to dissuade potential visitors from entering the vast premises of the institute. The workers are in no mood for pleasantries.
Entreaties on the part of the reporter that he be allowed to go round the premises, does not sway them either. Further pleas that information be sought from the institute’s public affairs officer to aid him is frowned upon equally , as the hapless official is shooed by his irate colleagues , who point to the fact that when a strike is called total then it ought to remain so. However, after more pleadings, the tense atmosphere appears to thaw considerably, as the reporter is allowed to speak with some of the prominent officers of the union and take peripheral shots of the institute’s buildings. The workers say that the inability of the government and the institute’s administration to accede to their demands, necessitated their avowed stance to cripple the institute through the strike action.
A bouquet of complaints
Comrade Mike Etoamaihe is the assistant secretary of the Senior Staff Association of the Institute. He says that the present strike has been on for several weeks now, and will continue until the government takes the necessary steps needed to make the workers willing and pliable in sheathing their swords. He says: “we are not only fighting for better salaries. We are also looking forward to having the institute work in the best form as others are run. Over the years, the research institutes have suffered inadequate funding at the hands of the authorities. We want adequate funding of research henceforth and infrastructural development. If you have been permitted to look around, you will find out that our research equipment and infrastructure are obsolete ones. They are outdated. We need new ones.”
“We are equally pushing for the establishment of a body that will be called NARECOM, National Research Commission, that will take over the running of research institutes in the nation. Right now, we have about nine supervisory ministries for research, excluding the presidency. But you will find out that research is not coordinated in any way. We want all research institutes to be coordinated by one single body, unlike what is happening today. This will greatly enhance the fluid management of the little resources at the disposal of research institutes today. We also want the government to improve the system. This we have mentioned over and over again. Research and development is the bedrock of national growth. It is not until we recognize this fact, that our country will move forward like other nations. If we want to grow, we need to fund our research institutes. This is because it cuts across all activities in our national life.”
He posits agitatedly, “we are not so insincere or insensitive to what is happening today in the country. The government has not shown the kind of sincerity we are expecting from them hence our reaction. We need to see that commitment first and foremost. They started by giving us a very weak committee, that cannot even make commitments on the part of the government in the first place. That is how the present problem stated. They have refused to sign any agreement with us so far. We are not so rigid. What we are asking for is that they sign an agreement with us over our various demands which we have forwarded to them. We are not saying all our demands must be met immediately. We simply require a promise from the government to that effect, in the form of a binding agreement. All our demands can be met over a reasonable period agreeable to both parties. We are not asking for too much. In other developed places around the world, research is given about 5 percent of the total GDP each year but this is not so here in Nigeria. It is less than .05 here.”
A senior staff of the institute, and the current assistant secretary of the Non Academic Staff Union of the institute, NASU, Abraham Oluwole, also adds that those piloting the affairs of the country do not have a clue about the importance of research for the overall growth and development of the nation,which clearly explains why they are not willing to fund the institutes but would rather allow its gradual decay. He says that more tax relief should also be given to workers around the country, as what they have as take home pay is grossly inadequate.
“We are still fighting for our arrears from last year, while our counterparts from other universities have been paid theirs, and are even enjoying sundry benefits. We are asking for consolidated and allied institute salary structure, which is even more reasonable, yet they refuse to do this for us. They actually agreed verbally but have refused to sign an agreement to that effect. Until an agreement is signed to that effect, we will continue to believe that those in authority do not have our best interest at heart. They refused bluntly to sign, but instead constituted a kangaroo committee which lacks the requisite powers to make agreements on behalf of the government. You can imagine an assistant director in a ministry being told to head a panel that will be binding on the president of the country! It is not acceptable to us and we are disregarding the work of the committee,” he enthuses heatedly.
He also adds that the retirement age being proposed by the government is equally a bone of contention. “We want the same agreement that was given to our colleagues in the universities and other academic institutions to be given to us. We are not inferior so we should not be treated differently.”
FIIRO’s grand expectations gone to ruins?
According to utterances by the aggrieved workers, the long-term objectives and mandates of the institute, may have beeng jettisoned after years of neglect. These include amongst others, to conserve Nigeria‘s foreign exchange earnings by reducing dependence on foreign goods through the development of local substitutes from locally available raw materials and to improve the nutritional qualities of Nigerian foods, which are known to be deficient in the essential body -building food properties.
Others are: to improve the indigenous, traditional techniques of production which are labour-intensive, time consuming, energy sapping and unable to cope with the modern market demands; to engage in technology transfer activities to the public through training courses and dissemination of pre-feasibility reports, and also provide consultancy services to individuals and other institutions in Nigeria and to undertake the preparation, publication and dissemination of useful technical information to industries and researchers; to engage in the design and fabrication of machinery and equipment, development of foundry processes and materials, analyses of metallurgical materials, casting of iron and aluminum, and machining of spare parts; to provide chemical raw materials for industries and to screen local woods for suitability for pulp and paper production.
The mandate has been reviewed from time to time to reflect the direction of the economic development of the nation. Over time, therefore, the following addition was made to the mandate which has more or less served as it illuminating light in operations:“FIIRO shall engage in research and development up to pilot stage, in areas of food science and engineering research, development and fabrication of equipment and machine prototypes”.
The Institute is currently being overseen by the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology and operates through seven divisions. Each unit is made up of sections and smaller arms. The divisions include: Policy and Management; Chemical and Fibre Technology; Engineering Research; Food and Analytical, Biotechnology; Information, Technology, Marketing and Extension Services; Planning and Monitoring. The Director General, with the assistance of a Management Committee, carries out the day-to-day administration of the Institute and oversees the execution of her programmes. The staff include research scientists such as microbiologists, food scientists, chemists, fibre technologists, metallurgists and mechanical, electrical, chemical, and agricultural engineers complimented by administrative and accounting staff, economists, information scientists, computer scientists and librarians.
FIIRO’s notable achievements in technological transfer
Despite the noticeable downturn in its affairs in her over forty years of existence, the institute has made some modest, but notable technological advancement in mass production of edibles beneficial to mankind. It has, to its credit enhanced the production in industrial proportions, the following: instant pounded yam flour production, cassava-wheat flour composite bread production, cassava-wheat snacks, cassava processing, cassava chips, cassava pellets, industrial production of ‘fufu,’cassava starch, cassava flour, mushroom production, essential oils, and the production of fruit juices and palm-wine bottling and preservation. FIIRO has also fabricated some equipments which are presently used commercially. They include, grain destoners, cabinet dryers, instant pounded yam flour equipment, parboilers,hammer mills, pasteurizers, plantain slicers, chipping machines, pelletizers and smoked fish dryers.
It is also embarking on some projects which include: Cassava based noodle production, Edible Mushroom Production, Beniseed (sesame seed) Oil Extraction, Production of Mayonnaise and Salad Cream, Production of Jam and Marmalade, development and production of alternative sweeteners from local raw materials, formulation and development of an alternative bread improver, production of soy fortified extruded snacks from cereals and tuberous crops, production of clarified fruit juices from pulpy fruits using local pectinase enzymes, development of technology for production of oxytetracycline peptone production from local legumes, Biological degradation of aflatoxin in fermented maize and sorghum products.
Others are the design and fabrication of a prototype reactor for the removal of heavy metals from electroplating waste water, using diatomaceous materials and prototype textile effluent treatment plant, the chemical modification of cassava starch: production of dextrin, physico-chemical and biochemical treatment of effluents from the paint and petrochemical (plastic) companies, bio-chemical pulping of some Nigerian woods, the design and fabrication of low cost extruder, the design and fabrication of 120 litres/day prototype palm oil refining plant and the development of a 200kg Rotary Furnace.
Comrade Emman Uzoalu is the head of the Senior Staff Association of Research Institutes, FIIRO chapter and he says that despite the laudable achievements of the institute more needs to be done to raise the standards once more. “We embarked on a warning strike in the second week of February this year. But the authorities refused to yield to our demands hence the present strike. We did this because they refused to listen to us even though they met with other academic institutions. They discussed with ASUU and SSANU but not with us on a new salary scale. They discussed with the National Institute of Technologists and NASU, but not with us. After the discussions, they gave them new packages. On the research sector of the economy the government has not negotiated with us not to talk of giving us the same packages. If the offices of FIIRO were to be open to you now, you will see the level of dilapidation that has assailed the institute especially its equipments. That is a nation that wants to be part of the top twenty economies around the world by 2020. How do we achieve this? FIIRO is even better than others around the country. When you visit these institutions you will weep for the nation,” he says.
He adds: “FIIRO, which is one of the oldest, cannot be equated with any campus across the country, in terms of infrastructure of facilities, even if it is a remote campus. That is the magnitude and the neglect by government of research institutes in the country. From abundant proof, it is evident that if a nation does not pay attention to its research institutes, it will be in trouble. Nigeria is practically paying lip service to development, because it is research that brings development to a nation. From Asia to Malaysia to other Asian Tigers, China, everything we hold dear today comes from these places. It is that bad.
These are people we are supposed to be competing with if we had organised our research right. We are still importing from them. On our salary, we should earn even better than those in the universities, because we do more in-depth work. We are equally asking that they uplift the working environment so that our productivity and output can be greatly increased. We are not asking too much by this. Most of our staff are leaving in droves to the universities because of the better working conditions there. Our request sent to the government since the third week of December last year, has not been honored. That is why we will continue the strike until they meet our demands…”