A civil society organisation (CSO), Partners for Legislative Agenda (PLAN) has expressed support for the bill seeking to establish the National Research Institute for Chemical Technology to be located in Zaria, Kaduna State.
The bill, which was sponsored by Hon. Musa Dacchung Bagos, the member representing Jos South and Jos East, seeks to advance chemical research in the country as a vehicle for stimulating industrial growth and reducing our dependence on imported chemicals and derivatives.
In a press release signed by its national coordinator, Mallam Khalifa Adamu Bello and made available to journalists in Abuja, he described the National Assembly, especially the House of Representatives under Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila as pro-people and highly progressive.
“It is without doubt that the leadership of the National Assembly especially that of the House of Representatives ably led by Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila as Speaker, has been a pro- people’s assembly that has always initiated and passed bills with monumental impacts on individual welfare and advancement,” the statement noted.
The group expressed satisfaction with the timeliness of the bill bearing in mind the discovery of more oil fields in northern Nigeria and the drive for internal refining of petroleum as well as the innovations in renewable energy across the country. The bill, will therefore increase the value chain in the oil and gas sector especially in the area of petrochemicals.
“The research institute which the bill seeks to establish will provide globally competitive and environmentally friendly research and innovation in the processing and conversion of indigenous raw materials into valuable chemicals and the optimal utilisation of petrochemical products for the development of chemical, biochemical and artificial fibre technologies for industrial applications in Nigeria. The worrisome trend where Nigeria imports even plastics will soon be a thing of the past”, the statement added.
Lamenting the embarrassing dependence of Nigeria on imported chemicals that could easily be produced in Nigeria using available agricultural raw materials like cassava and byproducts of petroleum refining, the group expressed optimism that very soon Nigeria will be at par with global powers in chemical research and export with billions of dollars in revenue and millions of direct and indirect jobs.
“Very soon, Nigeria will be at par with countries like Singapore and China in the production of chemicals and petrochemical products which are essential to our lives and industrial production. Ethylene, benzene, medical resins, medical plastics and food preservatives are some of the chemical products Nigeria imports in billions of Naira. The list is endless but we are happy to announce that there’s now hope for local production,” the statement added.
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