An inventor, Mr Benneth
Okoye, says lack of sponsorship is stifling efforts of inventors in Nigeria to make breakthroughs.
Okoye, who invented “Benneth Power Source”, a device that saves power for use in electrical appliances like CCTV cameras, made the observation in Abuja on Thursday.
He told newsmen that the ability of inventors to excel in the country was curtailed by absence of sponsorship to finance research works by scientists.
“Research is capital intensive, and in this country, it is not possible for a single person to fund any meaningful research that will add value to life.
“Investors in the country do not believe in long term investments, they want a return on investment in the short term and as you know research takes a long period of time.
“So, the enabling environment is not there, and even when government wants to intervene, bureaucratic bottles-necks will slow down the process.
“One thing about this intellectual thing is that it keeps bothering you, if the inspiration comes and you don’t do it, you can be walking on the street and be talking to yourself.”
Okoye said that he started research work on “Benneth Power Source” in 2002, when there was nothing like power bank.
“The problem we had in the country then was that, the type of phone we were using during this period didn’t have lasting batteries.
“That was what led me into this research to have a kind of backup.
“I completed it in 2007. You know, going into a research that was really not in existence was not really easy because there was nothing to guide someone.
“If I were to go into that kind of research now, there is something to guide me.
“But as of then, it will be difficult to even do anything, everything has to come from one’s thinking and inspiration.”
Okoye, however, expressed appreciation to the Senator representing his constituency, who funded it as part of his constituency project.
“Those CCTV cameras are usually not supposed to go off when there is power failure, so you can permanently connect them to CCTV cameras so that it can work round the clock.
“You can also use it to charge your phone in a situation when you find yourself in a remote environment, where there is no electricity.
“You can use it to charge the military walkie-talkie and other devices like the rechargeable lantern.”
Okoye said that the country had a lot of intelligent youths, eager and ready to invest their time and intellect to move the country forward.
The Tide reports that Okoye was among the 16 inventors recently awarded patent licence for their inventions by the National Office of Technology Acquisition and Promotion.