Fellowship
By Tolu Aiyegbusi
Abuja, April 11, 2018 (NAN) The Federal Ministry of Science and Technology(FMST) and some manufacturing companies on Thursday pledged to support National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion Industry Technology Transfer Fellowship (NITTF) initiative.
The ministry and industry representatives made the pledge to support the NITTF scheme in Abuja during the disbursement ceremony of the National Office for Technology and Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP)-Industry Transfer scheme for beneficiaries of the second batch.
The initiative, which was launched in July 2015, is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) platform designed by NOTAP to create indigenous critical technology competencies of elites applied knowledge workers in Nigeria through special PhD programmes tenable in Nigerian universities.
The support is for a maximum period of four years to be jointly implemented by NOTAP and the companies.
The Permanent Secretary of the FMST, Dr Amina Shamaki, represented by the Acting Director, Technology Acquisition and Adaptation, FMST, Mr Fut Anpe pledged full support for the initiative.
Anpe said the ministry would follow the implementation of the initiative with keen interest as it addressed the weakness and huge gap in the process of acquiring and adapting imported technologies into Nigeria.
He said the initiative also provided a fellowship platform for industries to support and train selected individuals to acquire training with industrial content in Nigerian universities.
The Director-General of NOTAP, Dr Dan-Azumi Mohammed, said the office observed a disconnection between industries and innovations in the country which led to absence of value creation.
“ Transferring and adapting foreign technologies into Nigeria is very expensive, so NOTAP went into collaboration with some industries to implement the NITTF.
“ The programme was initiated to reduce the importation of foreign technology and it will also help in translating innovation into value creation, which will be beneficial to the economy.
“The scheme is an investment in human capital, it will transform the economy through the provision of skilled and professional Nigerians that are highly needed by the industrial sector,’’ he said.
According to Mohammed, NOTAP collaborated with industries, which have their technology transfer agreement registered with the office to implement the NITTF scheme to help in the process of building the capacity of highly skilled individuals who will ensure speedy technology transfer in the country. ’’
He also called on more industries to support the initiative and sponsor more students.
Representatives from sponsoring companies such as CAP Plc., Friesland Campina, among others also promised continued support for the initiative.
Mr Wale Oladimeji a representative of Friesland Campina said the company was fully in support of the initiative, and would continue its sponsorship as part of its corporate social investment toward technological advancement in Nigeria.
Oluwafemi Bola from CAP Plc. said the initiative was a great one as the company was making efforts to develop locally motivated technologies.
Prof.Wellington Oyibo, from the University of Lagos, who praised NOTAP for the beautiful initiative, advised the office to sustain it and not allow it to die after a few years of implementation.
“It is appropriate for the academia and industry to be linked, it will boost indigenous technology, result in more industrial outputs and advanced economic development but that is not enough if such an initiative is not sustained,’’ he said.
NAN reports that NOTAP awarded scholarships to10 beneficiaries in its second batch of industry technology transfer fellowship.
The beneficiaries, who will be future academic workers in universities/ research institutes, are required to enter into agreements with NOTAP, the sponsoring industry and the university.
The areas of research are mostly based on solving issues identified by sponsoring organisations.
The first phase of the disbursement was implemented in 2015 with five beneficiaries and five sponsoring industries, while the second phase of the disbursement of scholarships has 10 beneficiaries and eight industries in attendance.
The sponsoring companies this year are Friesland Campina, WAMCO Nigeria PLC, PZ Cussons Nigeria Ltd., Procter and Gamble, Dufil Prima Foods Ltd. Promassidor Nigeria Ltd.
Others are CAP Plc and Nigerian Breweries.
Beneficiaries awarded fellowship scholarships are Folashade Olawale, Modu Kagu, Akinrinde Ibukunoluwa, Umar Mustapha, Fatoki Gbenga, Musa Dikko, Uhuo Onyinyechi, Chacbyen Magaji, Desmond Nwazie and Abdullahi Ahmed. (NAN)
TOLU/GY
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Edited by Grace Yussuf