For Nigeria to translate scientific ideas and technological innovation into economic growth, the gap between research and practical application must be narrowed. While new solutions are developed in laboratories and research centres, their wider value depends on whether they can be transformed into useful skills, businesses and technologies that improve livelihoods.
The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), under the leadership of its Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Khalil Suleiman Halilu, is seeking to address this gap by combining technical training with access to equipment, clean-energy technologies and opportunities for enterprise development.
Through programmes including the NASENI Skills Acquisition Programme (NSAP) and the NASENI Sustainable Empowerment Programme (NSEP), the agency has recently implemented interventions in Anambra, Benue, Kano and Oyo states, taking practical skills and technology-based support directly to communities.
Speaking in Wannune, Benue State, where the EVC/CEO was represented by the Acting Coordinating Director, Engineering Infrastructure, Engr. Dr. Rasheed Abdullahi Agava, NASENI said the programmes were designed to help beneficiaries build sustainable livelihoods, create businesses and become employers of labour.
A major feature of NASENI’s approach is the provision of tools and equipment alongside training, allowing beneficiaries to immediately put their newly acquired skills to use.
In Onitsha, Anambra State, the agency completed a five-day training programme for 100 young people in modern electrical installation and maintenance. Participants were provided with practical equipment and protective gear, including toolboxes, multimeters, screwdrivers, safety boots, helmets and cordless drilling machines.
The initiative received the support of the Obi of Onitsha, His Majesty Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, who commended the programme and pledged traditional leadership support to ensure the equipment contributes to enterprise development.
In Wannune, Benue State, NASENI combined vocational training with clean-energy interventions. The programme trained 100 men in solar installation, while 120 women were trained to produce household products such as soap and petroleum jelly. Another 250 beneficiaries received clean-energy solutions.
Agava said the solar training was particularly relevant as renewable energy continues to gain importance among households, businesses, farms, schools and public institutions.
He said NASENI was working to strengthen Nigeria’s domestic renewable-energy industry by developing the capacity to produce, install and maintain technologies required to meet the country’s future energy needs.
In Gaya, Kano State, 100 young men and women completed a six-week practical tailoring programme. Alongside the training, participants received industrial sewing machines and start-up materials to help them establish income-generating activities.
Representing Halilu at the event, NASENI’s Acting Director of Finance and Accounts, Muhammed Alhassan, described tailoring as more than a vocational skill, noting its potential to provide self-employment, generate income and promote economic independence among young people and women.
The agency also extended its empowerment efforts to Oyo State, where it emphasised the importance of ensuring that technologies developed through its mandate eventually reach households, entrepreneurs and communities.
NASENI’s Director of Information, New Media and Protocol, Olusegun Ayeoyenikan, who represented the EVC/CEO in Oyo, said the agency’s responsibilities extend beyond research and technology development to ensuring that innovations are applied in ways that reduce hardship, improve productivity and create economic opportunities.
While NSAP concentrates largely on technical and vocational capacity, the NASENI Sustainable Empowerment Programme focuses on providing communities with technologies that can improve productivity and household welfare.
NSEP interventions in Oyo, Anambra and Benue have included clean cookstoves, home solar systems and other technology-based support.
The clean cookstoves are intended to provide more efficient cooking options, reduce dependence on conventional fuels and limit exposure to cooking smoke. Home solar solutions, including basic lighting and fans, can also help households and small businesses extend their productive hours while reducing reliance on conventional electricity.
In Abatete, Idemili Local Government Area of Anambra State, 200 women benefited from an NSEP intervention, while another 300 young people, women and persons with disabilities received support through the programme in Oyo State.
These initiatives reflect an effort to place practical technology directly in the hands of households, artisans, traders and small businesses rather than keeping innovation within research institutions.
The programmes are also connected to NASENI’s broader 3Cs philosophy of Creation, Collaboration and Commercialisation.
Creation focuses on developing indigenous technologies and solutions. Collaboration brings government institutions, communities and other stakeholders together, while commercialisation seeks to move innovations beyond prototypes and demonstrations into products, services and businesses capable of generating economic value.
The approach aligns with Nigeria’s broader efforts to strengthen domestic production and reduce reliance on imported technology and expertise.
When Nigerians are trained to install and maintain solar systems, artisans receive equipment to establish businesses, and communities gain access to locally relevant technologies, the potential impact extends beyond individual beneficiaries. Such interventions can create technical jobs, support local enterprises and strengthen the country’s pool of skilled workers.
The spread of recent programmes across Kano, Benue, Anambra and Oyo also demonstrates an effort to extend technology-driven empowerment beyond major urban and industrial centres.
Nigeria’s industrial development depends not only on factories, infrastructure and investment but also on people with the technical skills required to operate, maintain and improve the technologies supporting those industries.
This makes skills development an important part of the industrialisation process. By combining vocational training with equipment and access to appropriate technologies, NASENI is creating opportunities for beneficiaries to move from training into practical work and, potentially, business ownership.
The sustainability of these programmes will depend on how effectively beneficiaries continue to use the equipment provided, expand their businesses and gain access to markets, finance and other forms of support.
NASENI’s broader focus on indigenous technology, partnerships and commercialisation is aimed at strengthening the link between research institutions and the communities that need practical solutions.
Ultimately, the objective goes beyond training people or distributing equipment. It is about creating a pathway through which knowledge becomes practical capacity, skills develop into businesses and businesses contribute to Nigeria’s domestic industrial base.
From electrical training in Anambra and solar installation in Benue to tailoring in Kano and technology-based empowerment in Oyo, NASENI’s recent interventions illustrate how science and engineering can be connected to everyday economic needs.
The transition from innovation to industrial development begins with ideas and research, but its wider value emerges when those ideas become usable technologies, employable skills, sustainable businesses and improved livelihoods for communities.
