The Director-General of the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Dr. Mohammed DanAzimi Ibrahim, has called on research institutes and the educational sector to focus more on Research and Development (R&D), thereby shift away from the over-dependency on foreign technology.
He stated this when a delegation from the Federal Polytechnic, Bida, headed by the Rector, Dr. Abubakar Abdul Dzukogi, paid a working visit to NOTAP in Abuja, on Thursday.
According to him that countries that are developed today was because they embraced research and development to advance their economy.
“Presently, the economy is based on knowledge and not resources and our Research and Development (R&D) establishments in the Universities, Polytechnics, Research
Establishments are expected to carryout R&D that could produce technologies to remove our over independence on foreign technology, so unless we begin to convert our knowledge into products and services, we may not see R&D translating economic value for the system by using our researchers and come out with technologies that will help to develop our raw materials from one level to another.
“We are adding value to it to bring technology from outside to add value to it, create job opportunity, to create more opportunities for us to use our knowledge and improve on quality of life of Nigerians. So R&D is key and there aren’t partners to do that better than the research establishments, Universities, Polytechnics, Research Institutes. So we need to appreciate their roles. They have significant role to play. Other nation’s are developed because their R&D efforts are being commercilised, translated into products and services. They don’t need to import things to improve on quality of lives in their country unlike the developing world, they spend a lot of money importing other people’s technologies and since technologies are products of R&D, we must strengthen partnership between our research
establishments and the private sector which if implemented here, will catapult Nigeria into economic development.”
Earlier, the Rector Federal Polytechnic Bida Dr. Abubakar Abdul Dzukogi disclosed to the DG NOTAP that his organization would like to partner with NOTAP and other stakeholders to develop the economy of Nigeria.
“Our visit here today is to seek collaboration in the areas of linking the industries to develop laboratories, protecting our intellectual property and assisting the institutions and sensitizing the staff so that they would follow the procedure especially in the area of patenting by protecting the intellectual property.”
Ibrahim assured the full support of NOTAP in any area of collaboration as long as it will benefit Nigerians.
According to the Rector, that NOTAP is in the best position to carryout that which they seek for adding that it will help international relationships with other developed countries as well as indigenous research work.
