The Federal Institute of In
dustrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO), says the institute has capacity to technically create about 250,000 direct jobs through its Techno-Investment programme, scheduled to hold yesterday.
The Director-General of FIIRO, Mrs Gloria Elemo, made the assertion at a press briefing
Elemo said that the programme which was to be declared open by President Goodluck Jonathan, and over 250 Research and Development (R&D) outputs created by FIIRO displayed potential investors.
She said “the institute, in its bid to deliver its mandate to create employment opportunities and reverse the rate of worsening unemployment state, organised an Investment and Technology Week.
“The overall aim of the programme was to showcase the institute’s 250 R&D outputs suitable for investment by small, medium and large scale entrepreneurs to enhance job creation.
The week-long
programme generated not less than 250,000 jobs to youths, especially those who are willing to take up jobs in the area of locally-generated technology.
She listed some of the products displayed as High Nutrient Density Biscuit to provide one-third of the daily dietary supplement to school children, cassava-based glucose syrup and pharmaceutical grade cassava starch.
Elemo said that one of the highlights was the book launch that provided a guide to the utilisation of FIIRO-researched raw materials where each local government in the country had
comparative advantage.
According to her, the book was a major contributor of the projected 250,000 jobs because beneficiaries of the FIIRO free training on food and industrial technology were present at the event.
She said that the beneficiaries of the National Techno-entrepreneurs Initiative by FIIRO was targeted at training 2,000 unemployed youths annually from the 774 local governments in the country.
The director general also said that FIIRO Technology Transfer Training Programme, a newly constructed pavilion of 10 complete sets of technology transfer training equipment, was launched at the event.
She added that participants at the event were drawn from African countries, multinationals, Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (MAN), regulatory bodies, development banks and associations of small and medium enterprises.
She, however, lamented that enough fund was not being channelled toward research in science and technology, which could enhance job creation through local manufacturing.
The FIIRO boss said that the institute had been making efforts to contribute to the use of locally-sourced materials for manufacturers of food, drugs, home and industrial use products.
Reports say that MAN recently stated in its recent report that the volume of locally-sourced materials have considerably increased with the contribution of R&D products by local research institutes.
The report states that the percentage of locally-sourced materials moved from 47.6 per cent in 2012 to 58.58 per cent in December 2013.