ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – Impressed by the quality of inventions presented by the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) at the Presidential Villa on Thursday, President Muhammadu Buhari has directed it to explore ways of working with the Defence Industries Corporation (DICON), Kaduna to manufacture the light weapons it has designed.
He has also charged the agency to do more working with the media to publicise its inventions for the benefit of Nigerians.
The President gave the directive when the Executive Vice Chairman of NASENI, Prof. Mohammed Haruna, led other officials of the agency to present the light weapon design and other locally manufactured products, as well as brief him on the agency’s state of affairs.
Apart from the light weapons designs, other NASENI inventions presented to Buhari included laboratory equipment and new energy-saving LED lamp products.
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The president also directed NASENI to collaborate with state governments to ensure that the agency’s solar producing facilities are henceforth used for electrification purposes in states.
President Buhari observed that unless the agency’s inventions are adopted and further developed by manufacturers, the country and ordinary Nigerians would not enjoy the fruits of its good work.
Buhari said, “Looking at your work, the laboratory equipment, the weapons design, these are things that can save us resources if you can coordinate with existing specialised agencies and work together”.
Speaking to State House correspondents after meeting with the president, Haruna said apart from directing that they should collaborate with states and MDAs on rural electrification, the President also directed the utilisation of the scientific kits being produced by NASENI for intervention in the education sector.
“He (president) directed that we must collaborate with relevant MDAs to ensure that there is synergy. Also that we should have patronage of the Governors’ Forum of the products that have been produced in NASENI so that they can meet up with some of their challenges in their states.
“That is to meet up their rural electrification with our solar manufacturing facilities, small hydro and intervention in education with the scientific kits we have. Other MDAs such as Defence, Ministry of Trade and Investment to liaise with us such that the technologies that are mature in our system, SMEs can be supported to take this to the market”.
Haruna said their visit aside the presentation was also to brief the President as the chairman of the governing board of NASENI, as the agency reports to him directly.
He said, “The assurance he gave us are the directives. He also asked the Ministry of Finance to look at the issues we presented and why they have not been achieved.
“Some of the challenges before us are funding, specifically contrary to what is stated in the Act establishing NASENI, the funding has never been accessed. So many other directives were given that will ensure successful industrial revolution of Nigeria.
“As you know, we are intervening in several sectors, our achievements in power, what we have manufactured so far and what we are doing in terms of small hydro turbines, solar manufacturing facilities, our agricultural implements and processing machines.
“These are things we have displayed to him among others. We also prayed to Mr. President to attend to these issues and several other things”.
