Ward based cluster as strategy for rural development

President Goodluck Jonathan said, two years ago, when he undertook to be the chairman of the National Research and Innovation Council (NRIC), that, “I am convinced that science, technology and innovation remain the key that will help us to achieve the desired transformation.  I have undertaken to be the chairman so as to provide the […]

President Goodluck Jonathan said, two years ago, when he undertook to be the chairman of the National Research and Innovation Council (NRIC), that, “I am convinced that science, technology and innovation remain the key that will help us to achieve the desired transformation.  I have undertaken to be the chairman so as to provide the leadership needed by this policy to drive our national development on all fronts, while preserving and respecting the individual mandates and responsibilities of the line ministries and agencies of government.”   
The NRIC, of which Mr. President is the chair,  will be involved in facilitating federal, sectoral, regional, state, and local level innovations through the creation of innovation councils.  The development, according to officials, will make Nigeria a global innovation outsourcing destination.
Since the policy was approved, there have been some strides as exemplified by some breakthroughs in biotechnology, space research, energy development and information and communication technology (ICT) and a host of others.
However one important aspect arising from the policy approval and which has consistently featured in the agenda of both the 12th and 13th meetings of the National Council of Science and Technology (NCST) is the Triple Helix Concept, which has the Ward Based Cluster Concept (WBCC) as its driver. The concept, no doubt, has snowballed into Ward Based Cluster Project (WBCP) which is inherent at the grassroots level.
The WCBP is a project where emerging technologies developed in the urban areas are impacted to the people within the local communities so that they can make good use of their raw materials to create capital investment.
It basically aims at impacting the required skills to residents at the ward level – which is cluster of villages – to draw people from different localities to acquire skill and develop entrepreneurs.
This is based on the triple helix concept of bringing research, industry and government together to promote competitiveness in production. The blueprint proposes the promotion of raw materials-based industrial cluster in each of the 774 local governments in Nigeria by 2020.