Institute laments inadequate funding for research, production of equipment

NAN-H-72
Funding
By Taiye Agbaje
Abuja, Feb. 21, 2018 (NAN) Mr Gbenga Olusunle, the Managing Director, Engineering Materials Development Institute (EMDI), has lamented inadequate funding of the agency, saying it has hindered it from delivering on its mandate.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Akure-based agency is mandated to develop engineering materials using scientific and engineering principles to develop capacity in the area.

Olusunle, who spoke with NAN in Abuja, stressed that no nation could develop without proper attention to science and technology.

“Definitely, the challenge is not something that is new to everybody. Generally, funding is the challenge. Funding is not adequate!

“Also, we need to retrain our staff, all of which boils down to money. We need money for production of equipment; we need money for consumables and the rest of them.

“Research takes a lot of money because while embarking on research, you will find out that before you get a product, you have expended a lot of money on the project to get it done properly,’’ he said.

The EMDI boss called on the Federal Government to pay more attention to the science and technology-related issues for the country to find its feet among the comity of nations.

“Without this, we cannot move forward because everything around us is a product of technology.

‘’You are taking this recording now through the medium of technology.

“The cloth you are wearing is technology; your shoes, technology; your belt is technology; the food you eat and processing of it is technology, etc. So, we must key into that,” he added. (NAN)
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Edited by Grace Yussuf