In the last two series, it was stated that science, engineering and technology are essential components of technological innovation, and that the journey from science to technology is a miracle and indeed a complex endeavour. Although it is acknowledged that the place of the market in innovation cannot be ignored, most times active innovation creates market for itself by either displacing existing products or making it difficult to ignore by consumers. It must, however, be stressed that as market demands and scientific advances are critical factors in the innovation process, none of them can independently cause the generation of technological innovation. This will be discussed elaborately in subsequent series.
Technological innovation involves a synthesis of need with technical possibility. By implication, technology policy should involve both the stimulation of scientific and technical activities such that the environment will be conducive for generation and spread of innovation. In the past, governments did not make S&T the platform on which their policies revolve. That is why policies such as import substitution, Transformation Agenda, 7-Point Agenda, NEEDS, Operation Feed the Nation, DFFRI, 6-3-3-4 education system amongst others did not yield the desired economic growth. In other words, an environment that is not technology-driven, where regulations are unfavourable to industrial growth, where multiple tax regimes hold sway, coupled with inconsistent policies and poor infrastructure will suffocate innovation. Providing an enabling environment for innovation to thrive entails governments at all levels ensuring a sound educational system imbued with congenial intellectual capacity and providing political stability through good governance and exemplary leadership. Additionally, the environment must assure local and foreign investors of industrial peace coupled with consistent economic policies that should not ban and unban items recklessly without due consideration and consultation with stakeholders bearing in mind the nation’s strategic long-term goals. And there must be security of lives and property through the rule of law coupled with open door investment policy. Without an enabling environment, firms and the entire nation will not be able to innovate. The environment referred to here is one that is characterized by mutually-supportive relationships between our tertiary institutions, industry and the government. With respect to innovation and competitiveness, any government that does not collaborate with industries and tertiary institutions under its jurisdiction before formulating S&T policies does so at its peril. The level of sophistication of a nation’s environment in areas such as human capital, institutions, research infrastructure, and market and business climates will to a great extent determine quality of inputs into the innovation endeavour.
Let us look at the contribution of human capital to innovation. In today’s knowledge-based economy, human beings represent the most critical natural resource in technological innovation. It is from these academic disciplines, namely, science, engineering and technology, that new opportunities in the market can easily be predicted so that firms can innovate. By implication, human capital is one of the greatest assets towards sustaining a virile S&T policy.
Some Nigerians are known to have competed favourably with their counterparts in developed countries but when they are in Nigeria, they perform below par because of an environment that does not encourage merit. For instance, the “Nigerian factor” syndrome which politicians covertly or overtly apply in place of the federal character principle has ordained mediocrity and thus most of the best science, engineering and technology graduates are out of the country. It is because the environment does not encourage and support merit that most first-class and second-class upper division graduates in science, engineering and technology who are required in research institutes have left the shores of this nation. This has resulted in what is popularly referred to as “brain drain” or “reverse transfer of technology”. It was not surprising to read recently that “Nigerian medical doctors in the diaspora are about 45,000 out of 65,000 registered medical doctors. Out of the 45,000 that are in various parts of the world, the United States of America can boast of about 10,000.” Economic growth of Nigeria and most African countries is limited by inadequate supply of trained people to do the work that needs to be done. The limiting factor is not in local demand but in the supply of skilled manpower to meet the demand. This manpower shortage applies to artisans who can apply technical as well as vocational skills to works as demanded by the industry. This trend if not reversed has grave negative consequences for innovation in Nigeria. Any nation that wants to innovate and compete favourably with other countries in the international environment needs control and supervision of the innovation process which usually constitutes a management problem of significant difficulty in firms. This will require firms and by extension the nation to muster brilliant and high calibre management teams to manage innovation process as the conditions for successful innovations are not just brilliant and intelligent research personnel, scientists and technologists alone.
Achieving innovation requires multi-disciplinary approach and that further explains its complexity. The nation also needs scientists, engineers, technologists and professors in quantity and quality who can work in research laboratories and train next generation of researchers. Nigeria must have a pool of talents that are pro-industry as this will enable the nation innovate and ultimately compete favourably in a competitive global landscape. We must “re-drain the brain drain” and avoid “Nigeria factor”, but governments must embrace meritocracy and create enabling environment for industry to thrive. In other words, the federal character policy should be applied sensibly. It is human beings that are active agents who accumulate wealth, exploit material resources, and build necessary socio-economic structures necessary for innovation. Clearly, a nation that is unable to develop skills and knowledge of its people and utilize them effectively in the innovation process will neither innovate nor have competitive advantage. (To be continued).
MA Johnson
