From Cyriacus Nnaji, Lagos
Patrick Adebisi Olusegun Adegbuyi, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Design and Material Technology of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Lagos State University (LASU) has urged the federal government to take inventory of all raw materials in the country and also to establish material research institutes in all the states of the federation.
Professor Adegbuyi took the position while speaking as the 86th Inaugural Lecturer of the institution at the Buba Marwa Auditorium at Ojo on October 4, 2022.
The title of the Lecture was ‘Exploitation of Materials and Material Properties for Machine Design in a Developing Economy.”
On what should be done for proper exploitation of materials in the developing economy Nigeria, Professor Adegbuyi said “Government should take an inventory of raw materials in various states of the federation, establish a data base at the state and federal levels for all raw materials identified, determine what the materials or a combination of them could be used for and establish material research institutes in all the states of the federation.”
Professor Adegbuyi further recommended the Development of indigenous technology to reduce total dependence on importation of finished products for internal consumption, while also calling for export of locally manufactured products, and also encouraging a symbiotic relationship between the academia and industries in material research and development.”
Professor Adegbuyi said for a meaningful technological development of Nigeria, materials should be exploited for the country’s needs and sustainability, adding that Nigeria has retrogressed in the exploration and exploitation of so many materials.
While pointing out that there are numerous materials in abundant quantity that has not been tapped, he said “Our country is rich in crude oil, but we still import refined products spending billions of dollars on this rather than build new refineries using local and indigenous technology. Bitumen is available in large commercial quantity but there are bad roads all over the country.”
He spoke further, “In spite of the abundance of gold in Zamfara State, limestone in the south west and southeast we still import tiles. He added that tin, bauxite and a lot of other precious metals abound in Plateau State and are not being exploited.”
He asked, “What has happened to the Ajaokuta steel rolling mills which I heard about since my secondary school days? The same goes for Aladja and Oshogbo steel rolling mills; they need to be resuscitated. He said technological development and industrialization is linked to availability of power: private businesses will spring up if the country can get over the electricity generation, transmission and distribution issues.
He disclosed that Agriculture too in Nigeria has gone down to subsistence level; and therefore urged the government to invest massively in mechanized farming in order to develop the capacity to feed the population and also export produce.
