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Daniel Adaji
Despite a proliferation of innovation hubs and knowledge centres across Nigeria, the country remains trapped in poverty and underdevelopment due to faikure to effectively link research, innovation, and commercialization to national prosperity.
This is according to Professor Azikiwe Onwualu, President of the African University of Science and Technology and former President of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering.
Presenting a paper at the National Council on Innovation, Science and Technology in Abuja on Wednesday, Onwualu described the Nigerian economy as a paradox: rich in resources, talent, and potential, yet beset by poverty, weak industrialization, and limited technological competitiveness.
He argued that while the country has made significant investments in educational and innovation infrastructure—boasting over 283 universities, 200 polytechnics, 500 research institutions, and a vibrant startup scene—these have not translated into sustainable national development or prosperity.
“The key missing link is our inability to develop and apply innovations in a sustainable, structured manner. We lack a functional national system of innovation that seamlessly connects research, development, innovation, and commercialization. Without this, our innovation hubs remain decorative,” he said.
He traced Nigeria’s history of ambitious development plans—from the First National Development Plan of the 1960s to the current Renewed Hope Agenda—and noted that despite their noble intentions, many of these initiatives have failed to yield lasting results due to weak implementation, limited local content, policy inconsistency, and poor coordination between academia, industry, and government.
Onwualu noted that countries like the United States, South Korea, Germany, and Israel have achieved prosperity by systematically institutionalizing the Research, Development, Innovation, and Commercialization (RDIC) cycle. This framework, he explained, allows scientific knowledge to evolve into marketable technologies and services, creating jobs, generating wealth, and enhancing global competitiveness.
He emphasised that Nigeria must adopt the RDIC model as a strategic, cyclical pathway for national development, arguing that the country’s current piecemeal approach to innovation does not support long-term prosperity.
“The disconnect between research institutions and industry, weak intellectual property regimes, and limited commercialization support are undermining our innovation potential,” he said.
According to him, while Nigeria has recorded milestones in the fintech, creative economy, and renewable energy sectors, these achievements remain largely isolated and unsupported by robust policy, funding, and infrastructure ecosystems. Nigeria’s expenditure on research and development is still below one per cent of GDP—well behind the global average and far below innovation leaders such as Israel and South Korea.
Onwualu urged the federal and state governments to drastically scale up investments in R&D, build and fund technology development hubs, establish stronger partnerships between universities and industries, and incentivize private-sector participation through co-funding and tax reliefs.
He also called for greater emphasis on entrepreneurship education, IP protection, and venture capital support to empower innovators and startups to bring their ideas to market.
In what he termed the “valley of death,” Onwualu said Nigeria often fails at the final leg of the innovation process—commercialization—
“We are excellent at idea generation and fair at development, but we often fail to commercialize those innovations. That is where national prosperity is lost,” he said.
He advocated for the immediate operationalization of the National Research and Innovation Council (NRIC) and the National Research and Innovation Fund (NRIF), both of which were reportedly approved by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and are currently awaiting full implementation.
These institutions, he said, would serve as coordinating bodies for RDIC activities, ensuring a harmonized and results-driven approach to innovation-led development.
Onwualu called for an urgent cultural shift across government, academia, and industry to embrace the RDIC cycle as a national development philosophy.
“Research, development, innovation, and commercialization are not isolated activities. They are parts of a strategic cycle that must be aligned, funded, and institutionalized to lift Nigeria out of poverty and into prosperity,” he said.
