The Federal Government has expressed its desire to advance with its methanol policy, as it attracts lucrative prospects into the country.
This was shared by the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (FMSTI), Ogbonnaya Onu, at the ministerial World Press Conference at the christening of the ministry’s name to the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (FMSTI), in Abuja on Friday.
He said that the policy was in its final stages, but was being fine-tuned to ensure that the resource doesn’t suffer the same fate as crude oil.
The methanol policy aligns with the government’s goal of a more diversified economy, and the economic weight moved from its dependence on crude oil.
Onu said, “The methanol economy is a major economy for Nigeria and Nigeria will be the first country in Africa to do so. It has very important benefits to all aspects of the economy. First is the environment.
“We are so lucky our gas resources from Nigeria is even more than the crude oil resources that we have and we flair this gas and I tell people it is like you take money from your pocket and you pour kerosene and you light and burn that money. That is what gas flaring is.”
“Other countries that have a lot of crude oil, they don’t burn their gas, they use their gas, and this natural Gas is what is used for the production of methanol, Methanol has application in over 1000 products.
“Even the clothes we wear, our houses, offices, laboratory. Even most things around us there are some components that are drawn from methanol.
“So it is a very huge economy but that we don’t just want to bring this thing and it will be foreigners and in 20 to 30 to 60 years it will still foreigners.
“No, we want to bring this methanol economy into Nigeria and then domesticate the technology so that we can master it.
“Then we will now export our engineers and scientists to do the same for other people as they have been doing to us and make money for themselves and the nation.
“That is what we are trying to achieve and we are working very hard to do that.”
“If you look at our methanol policy is one that if we introduce it by God’s grace and we are very close to realising it, because it has been approved and we are at the terminal stages now but we don’t want to bring in Methanol and suffer the fate that we suffered with crude oil.
“With crude oil we just said we have it and we did not care about the domestication of the Technology. If we had domesticated the technology by today we would not be asking foreigners to come and do turn around maintainable of our refineries, we would not have been asking foreigners to come and design and construct new refineries in the country. No.
“By now, Nigerian companies would have been able to so that and then go and compete with the best in the world, whether in China, United States of America, Japan, Germany or in the UK.
“Our people would compete favourably and that way they would bring money back to Nigeria. This is what we are trying to achieve.”
The minister disclosed the ministry’s plan to roll out a policy on Nanotechnology, alongside other policies.
He said that the goal was to make the Nigerian economy one that is driven by innovation, and for this reason, the ministry adopted its new name.
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Onu explained, “There are many other policies that will be coming, we are going to have policy on Nano technology and all aspects of technology.
“This ministry is ready, we are prepared we are working day and night to make sure that our country’s economy will no longer depend on commodities we want our economy to depend on knowledge that is innovation driven.
“That is why the name of the Ministry is changed. That drive must come from innovation and innovation is you ready have something you add a new thing to it. Anybody can innovate, even housewives can innovate and we want all Nigerians to be innovators.
“We are going to make Nigeria a country of innovators so that there will be production everywhere, you produce in your homes, offices that is what we are going to do.
“If you look at some of these countries that are doing very well, look at the first car manufacturers in America where did they manufacture in cartons. That is where they started. That is what we want to do in Nigeria so that anybody who wants to work will find work to do.”
