ENGINEERING IS DEVELOPMENT (Serialised) No 16 (Final)

Engineering Is Development

Finally we arrive at the last chapter of the book, Engineering Is Development. I thank all those who have diligently followed the series and validated our decision to serialise it. In the next two weeks, we shall collate and post the essence of the several feed backs that we have received from you all.

This last chapter puts engineering in the context of our daily lives and national development. It is, however, important to note that engineering is not the same thing as engineers. Engineering is much bigger and includes law makers who make laws to guide its practice, the executive governments who enact policies as well as initiate and manage engineering projects, scientists, other professionals in the built and undeveloped environment including architects, surveyors and town planners, lawyers, accountants, administrators and the general citizenry. All these are very important and critical components of engineering even though they are not engineers. Engineers are, however, at the epicenter of physical development, as researchers, designers, contractors, manufacturers, maintenance officers and operators of engineering facilities and utilities.

Engineering in Our Daily Lives

I make bold to state again that engineering development is national development. This is one principle that has not been adequately appreciated by governments in the third world. Governments that have come to this understanding have made the transition from underdeveloped to developed societies in relatively short periods of time. Those which have not remain in poverty and misery.

One only needs to look at a day in the life of any member of the family, and the critical and irreplaceable contribution of engineering is so self-evident. Perhaps it is its being so self-evident that makes it lose its significance.

We all wake up in the morning and use the bathrooms supplied by water provided by engineering. We prepare our food with cookers, fridges, micro-wave ovens, and other appliances manufactured by engineering processes. The electricity that powers the equipment is generated and distributed by engineering. We go to our different destinations by cars, buses, motor-cycles, trains, boats and bicycles, all produced by engineering designs and manufacturing. At our different places of work, we use paper, computers, photocopiers, telephones, air-conditioners, staplers, pens, pencils, biros and several other items, all products of engineering ingenuity and manufacturing processes. We return home the way we came and repeat our domestic chores of the morning. We relax by watching television, listening to music, or simply sleep in beds in our houses, all these being the product of engineering construction and manufacturing processes.

Agriculture, health care, communication, sanitation; in just about any facets of life as we know it today, engineering is critical. The world talks about world trade. What are traded are, however, mostly products of engineering processes, or with significant engineering input. How much trade would there be without engineering? Even defense and security are issues of national pride driven by weapons and equipment that can only be manufactured by engineering processes.

So Why Is There No Strategy for Engineering Development?

If engineering plays such critical and domineering roles in our lives, then why is it so difficult for national governments in third world countries to appreciate the importance of science and engineering and give it the attention it requires? Why is it that the economy of third world nations ignores the basic ingredient of production as the primary source of all income? Why is national development left in the hands of theorists who only understand the theory of production without the art of production itself? Why are ministries of finance, commerce, defence, justice, information and similar others manned with experienced and competent economists, lawyers and journalists, while ministries responsible for infrastructures, manufacturing, agriculture and similar productive endeavours are manned mainly by political considerations rather than by those with professional competence and accomplishments?

Why do we have such poorly articulated national infrastructure programmes without clear visions and strategies for implementation? Why do we talk about 10, 20 or 30 years vision without clear strategies that are measurable yearly for their achievements? What happened to the 5-year development programmes that were well articulated and provided a coordinated set of actions for national development? Why are development programmes political tools for the manipulation of the masses?

National Strategy for Engineering Development

The starting point in developing a strategy for engineering development is to re-orientate and re-educate the national leadership as to the critical importance of engineering in national development. Leadership of engineering institutions must be based on a thorough understanding of issues. Political parties must have science and engineering research wings that will educate the party leadership on engineering issues and discuss these at policy level. Election debates must centre on how to technically develop the nation, with clear understanding of the technical requirements.

The irony is that Nigeria is very rich in human and material resources for development, both in the country and in the diaspora. There has not been adequate platform for these Nigerians to be heard and to make the significant input necessary for development.

The re-orientation must emphasise that a nation that depends not only on imported technology, but also on imported finished goods including clothes, food and items of daily consumption is an endangered nation. It must emphasise that our major source of revenue today is oil, and that it is bound to be exhausted very soon. Although it is being replaced by gas, developed nations are already investing in alternative energy, and our revenue from oil might continue to diminish relative to our expenditure. Any further delay endangers our development further.

Education: Primary, Secondary, Vocational and Tertiary

The basic input into development is education at all levels. Primary education leads to secondary, and on to tertiary and vocational institutes. These, of course, require rigorous curriculum design, training and proper motivation of teachers, and the recognition of the relationship between theory and practical education. Ultimately, the understanding of the basic forces of nature must be mastered and the application of this knowledge to solving practical problems must be entrenched.

A nation that leaves the education of its youth to poorly motivated, ill-trained and poorly paid teachers endangers the future of these youths, and indeed the country itself, and this is what we are doing in our country today. One only needs to visit our schools, even in urban areas, to see how rundown the physical infrastructures are. The physical rundown no matter how bad, is however, minor compared with the quality of staff. Vocational institutions are grossly inadequate and ill-equipped. Universities continue to expand and admit students without adequate physical infrastructures, equipment, library, teachers or appropriate environment for development. The universities are not guided by any national strategy and policies, and there are thousands of graduates roaming the streets without jobs, and not even sure of their own competences. Our professors drop their titles as soon as they reach foreign lands, in the knowledge that they cannot live up to these titles when compared with their peers abroad.

It is not that Nigeria has not always realised the critical position of education in national development. It is that it has lacked the discipline to develop and enforce a clear strategy. The resulting effect has been decadence.

Research and Development

The objective of education at the highest levels is to empower the educated citizens to address and solve contemporary problems for which there are already standard solutions. Most of the problems confronting Nigeria today are in this category. They include road construction, water supply, electricity supply, housing production, food production and several others. These problems have been solved by several nations all over the world, and can indeed be solved in Nigeria in a relatively short time with appropriate strategy, focus and concentration of efforts.

Research and Development, however, go beyond basic production to address more difficult issues. It anticipates problems and issues, studies them, and pushes the frontiers of knowledge in solving them. Contemporary examples of the output of research and development include the cell phone, internet, computer technology, space travels, among others.

Again, Nigeria has always realised the critical input of research and development but again has lacked the discipline to develop and enforce a strategy. Through the years, over thirty research and development institutions have been established, excluding universities which are also expected to carry out research.

The researchers of the Western World who are responsible for the inventions that are making their marks on the technological scene today are heavily sponsored by their governments and industries. Vast amount of money is spent without any guarantee of an early breakthrough; or that the money spent on research will yield immediate profitable returns. For example over £300m was spent by the combined team of English and French designers on the design and manufacture of the prototype of the Concord Aircrafts; and from all account the expectations of its sponsors that it would be in great demand by the airlines of the world was not realized. But here in Nigeria, universities have very little if any funds for research, and everybody including the government expects them to produce first class materials for the country's development.

Construction, Manufacturing, Oil & Gas, Agriculture

In addition to education and research and development, practical execution of projects is the manifestation of the successes of these efforts. A tremendous amount of construction needs to be done in the country, from transportation to water supply, power supply, housing and environmental protection. It is amazing that Nigeria has no capacity to execute any but the most basic of these infrastructures. For over 90% of our infrastructural requirements, we are dependent on foreign technical and managerial support for which we pay very dearly.

A very strong construction industry is critical for development. Firstly, it provides the infrastructures required at the relatively lowest price so that the whole of the construction expenditure is retained in the country. Secondly, it provides employment to very many people, for the construction industry is a large employer of labour with very long chains of support services. Thirdly, it builds capacity and allows exportation of national expertise. Fourthly, being local, it remains on hand to provide experience for the further development of the industry. Finally, it provides opportunities for graduates of universities, a receptor for the outcome of research and development, and further funding of such research and development.

Agriculture is another major area for the provision of employment, retention of capital, receptor for research and development, and improvement in trade balance. Ensuring adequate food supply is also a matter of not only national pride but national security. The engineering complement of this sector is often under-appreciated. The provision of irrigation infrastructures, farm implements, manufacture of fertilisers, storage and preservation facilities are critical engineering inputs that must be addressed.

Linkages between Education, Industry, R&D and National Priorities

We do not need elaborate visioning processes to determine our national priorities. They are pretty obvious: we need to get every citizen engaged in meaningful productivity in creating wealth and providing water, power, roads, schools, health care and all the other infrastructures required for good quality living in a sustainable manner. The chain of event is re-orientation – education – productivity – research and development – improved productivity. The linkage between education, industry, research and development and national priorities must be strongly established. Young people should see this connectivity right from the secondary schools if not primary schools, and government should facilitate the establishment and sustenance of the linkages.

Engineering as the Central Focus of Our National Development

For the next couple of decades, engineering and technology must be the central focus of our national development if we are to be on the path to sustainable development. We are naïve in thinking that our national development has been driven to date by any other sector of the society but engineering, for it is the production of oil and gas that has been our mainstay. Unfortunately, this has neither been a strategic decision, nor has it been nationally driven. Production and marketing of our oil and gas has been in foreign hands, and will remain so until we acquire competence in engineering and technology.

As already stated, we must build capacity in agriculture, mining, manufacturing and construction. Starting with the simplest and most commonly used items, we must develop competence and capacity to produce what we need and to be self-sufficient in them. We can then graduate to more complex items until we can produce most of our requirements.

There you have it – the book serialisation that you have followed keenly. Let’s meet next time for a new direction. My feedback mechanisms remain the same.

Bayo Adeola +234(0)8022910259; kaa@cpmslimited.com; www.cpmslimited.com