Materials-to-product potentials for sustainable development in Nigeria

ABSTRACT

In this study, the materials-to-product potentials of Nigeria in light of the need for sustainable national development was systematically reviewed. It was observed that agricultural and solid mineral resources are as abundant as petroleum resources but have gained less interest in research and development (R&D) due to lesser cash flow. The management and conversion of waste to useful products was established as an important facet of the wealth creation for sustainable development in the Nigerian context. The key issue in waste management and conversion observed in the paper circled around the poor efficiency of the system of manual reclamation and sorting. The relationship between universities and the industries for product development was observed to be fractious. It was recommended that complementary policy and infrastructure be put in place to ensure sustainability, and efforts are made to diversify out of the petroleum revenues. It was concluded that abundant resources for materials-to-product innovations for sustainable development is not in question but the willingness/motivation of the relevant stakeholders to put the necessary machinery in place is non-existent.

KEYWORDS:

• Resources
• innovation
• development
• nigeria
• sustainability

1. Introduction

Nigeria being the most populated black nation on earth is endowed with a vast array of resources that can be harnessed for sustainable national development (Baba 2013). The most important of these resources are petroleum, agriculture and solid minerals. Nigeria is the third-largest oil-producing nation in Africa and the largest natural gas reserve holder on the continent (Ahmed, Bello, and Idris 2012). The agricultural resource in Nigeria is quite numerous and diverse encompassing a wide variety of food and cash crops and a large area of arable land (Olajide, Akinlabi, and Tijani 2012). For there to be sustainable development, there has to be the innovative use of these resources.

Innovation is generally recognised as a key driver of economic growth and development (Bosworth and Collins 2003; Ekperiware and Adepoju 2013). Innovations can be obtained through research, which is the systematic search and investigation for more knowledge (Bako 2005). Its extended version, research and development (R&D), is the search and application of knowledge for the synthesis of new or improved products, services and industrial processes (Bako 2005). R&D is a sure way of improving sustainable development by harnessing the potentials of the of petroleum, agricultural and solid mineral resources in Nigeria.

Innovations in process and product development has been established as to have a positive impact on businesses (Ebarefimia 2014) and industries (Egbetokun, Siyanbola, and Adeniyi 2007) in Nigeria. The means of acquiring, managing and implementing knowledge/innovation is also important if it will bear any positive fruit (Waribugo, Ofoegbu, and Akpan 2016). Materials-to-product innovations have a more significant positive effect on technological and national development compared to process innovations (Adeyeye, Jegede, and Akinwale 2013). This is because product innovations are more tangible and generate revenues from sales in contrast to process innovations (Ilori, Oke, and Sanni 2000).

Because of these, there is a need to carefully analyse and discuss Nigeria’s resources potentials for sustainable development. There are no papers that specifically discuss these potentials in the Nigerian context. This paper attempts to fill this important gap in knowledge. The aim of this study is to systematically review the materials-to-product potentials of Nigeria in light of the need for sustainable development. The potentials and problems around the key resources in Nigeria was discussed in the domain of petroleum, agriculture and solid minerals. Furthermore, the management and conversion of waste to useful products is an important facet of the wealth creation for sustainable development which is considered in this study and the peculiarities of university-industry relations were also discussed. The review also proposed some recommendations and areas for future work.

2. Resources for sustainable development in Nigeria

Availability of natural resources in any country is a great contributor to the wealth base of that country and also aids socio-economic development (Jack, Nkwocha, and Odubo 2016). Embedded in the physical environment are natural resources made up of air, water and land. With its abundant natural resources, Nigeria has the wherewithal to be a very rich country. 50 million Nigerians are part of the over 3 billion people in the world living below the poverty level, less than US$1 a clay, with a Human Poverty Index (HPI) of 46.1 (Uchegbu 2015). In this section, the natural resources are divided into three categories namely petroleum, agricultural and solid minerals resources. Figure 1 shows the contribution of each category to the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) between 1981 and 2015. The petroleum resources have been greatly harnessed thus contributing more to the real GDP, however as at 2015, the conversion of solid mineral material-to-product has not been well utilised thus having no positive effect on the real GDP of the nation.

Figure 1. Average percentage contribution of agriculture, solid minerals and petroleum resources to real GDP (Jack, Nkwocha, and Odubo 2016)

2.1 Petroleum resources

Nigeria’s oil production level is close to 2 million barrels per day (Aliyu 2009). With an estimated natural gas reserve of about 180 trillion cubic feet, Nigeria is the largest natural gas reserve holder in Africa, and one of the largest in the world (Ahmed, Bello, and Idris 2012). Figure 2 gives a good summary of the vast oil and gas resources owned by Nigeria. Despite the non-renewability of these resources, they represent a key resource in Nigeria for national development. Though most SMEs cannot harness the potentials in the petroleum raw materials themselves due to its gigantic capital implications, the downstream petrochemicals can become the area of focus for materials-to-product innovations.

Figure 2. The oil and gas resources (Ighalo and Adeniyi 2020a)

The mismanagement of public funds and unnecessary government expenditure over the years have undermined the contributions of increasing oil revenue to sustainable national development (Aregbeyen and Kolawole 2015). This has led to numerous calls for the diversification of the economy (Anyaehie and Areji 2015) as the non-renewability of petroleum resources makes it an unsuitable foundation for any approach in sustainable development (Uzonwanne 2015). Despite the negative effect of fluctuating oil prices on the nation’s economy (Aliyu 2009), the availability of petroleum resource and its associated petrochemicals for materials-to-product innovations is one that cannot be ignored. It can thus be inferred that petroleum resources are important for the sustainable development of Nigeria, albeit not for the long-term.

2.2 Agricultural resources

Despite the prevailing role of petroleum as a major foreign exchange earner for the country, the agricultural sector remains the mainstay of the Nigerian economy being the largest non-oil export earner. Thus the agricultural sector employs the largest labour; contribute greatly to wealth creation and poverty alleviation (Evbuomwan 2016). The location of Nigeria in Tropical West Africa (the intersection of the Niger and Benue rivers and her associated delta) means there are vast areas of fertile soil for agriculture. About 77.7% of Nigeria’s land (910,800 km²) is agricultural land of which 37.3%, 7.4% and 9.0% are for arable land, permanent crop and forest respectively (Evbuomwan 2016). The country is known for numerous agricultural produce. Agricultural resources are divided into four sub-sectors which include crop, livestock, fishery and forestry (Evbuomwan 2016). As shown in Figure 3, the major cash crops are groundnut, cocoa, rubber, cotton and oil palm. Rubber, cocoa and oil palm are cultivated in the south whilst groundnut and cotton are cultivated majorly in the north (see Figure 3). Other major crops include cassava, beans, maize (corn), rice, sesame, soybeans, cashew nuts, cocoa beans, millet, gum arabic, kolanut, sorghum, melon, yams, plantains and bananas. The role of agricultural resources in sustainable development in Nigeria has been positively established (Odetola and Etumnu 2013; Omorogiuwa, Zivkovic, and Ademoh 2014). Hence, forays into these resources for materials-to-product innovations will be of similar positive contribution to the nation.

Figure 3. Main agricultural products in Nigeria (Imaenyin 2015)

Adenugba and Dipo (2013) observed that non-oil exports (of which agriculture is a part) are performing below expectation. This is a pointer towards the general lack of interest by the government, policy-makers and other stakeholders on agricultural resources. This is corroborated by the low government budgeting for the agricultural sector (Bello et al. 2012). The major constraints to the harnessing of agricultural resources are organisational, socio-economic and resource-related (Imaenyin 2015). Numerous other studies have elaborated on the challenges of agriculture in Nigeria (Nchuchuwe and Adejuwon 2012; Olukunle 2013). Irefin, Ilori, and Solomon (2005) discussed the nature and extent R&D innovations in agriculture in Nigeria and attempted to design a policy framework to promote R&D innovations. It was suggested that constant collaboration be put in place between researchers and entrepreneurs right from the conceptualisation to the pilot stage to enable a smooth transition from the laboratory to large-scale utilisation of such technologies.

2.3 Solid mineral resources

Besides the oil and gas resources, Nigeria is also endowed with solid minerals (Adekoya, Kehinde-Phillips, and Odukoya 2011). These minerals include gold, coal, bitumen, talc, gypsum, iron ore, rock salt, kaolin, gemstone (NHC 2020), limestone, tin ore, columbite and zinc/lead sulphates (Alison-Madueke 2009) and a host of others (see Figure 4). Not less than 75% of solid minerals are of great relevance in the industry by the Nigerian Geological Survey Association. Solid minerals are divided into the following; energy minerals (coal, lignite, atomic minerals), major industrial metals (base metals, ferrous metals), specialist metals (tin, wolfram, tantalum), precious metals (gold, silver, platinum), gemstones (precious and semi-precious), and Industrial minerals and construction materials. Over 3 billion metric tonnes deposits of iron ore were estimated to be in Enugu, Kogi, Niger, Lagos, and Federal Capital Territory. The deposits of talc in Osun, Niger, Ogun, Kaduna and Kogi States are over 40 million tonnes. Located in Taraba and Bauchi States barite which is over 7.5 million tonnes (Jack, Nkwocha, and Odubo 2016).

Figure 4. Distribution of solid minerals in Nigeria (Obaje 2009)

Ayodele, Akongwale, and Nnadozie (2013) buttressed the role of solid minerals in sustainable development in light of the need to diversify from the non-renewable petroleum resource. And this contribution of solid minerals to national development has been empirically established (Olalekan, Afees, and Ayodele 2016). Though there are drawbacks in solid mineral exploitation due to some negative environmental impact (Budnuka, Clinton, and Agi-Ottoh 2015; Ezeaku 2012; Gutti, Aji, and Magaji 2012), with proper planning and methodical exploitation, issues such as this ought not to arise. Adenugba and Dipo (2013) observed that non-oil exports (of which solid minerals is a part) are performing below expectation indicating a general apathy towards these resources. There is a need to harness these solid minerals for sustainable national development. Furthermore, materials-to-product innovations in this regard will be of great advantage to all involved as the availability of feedstock is not in question.

3. Waste to wealth

Another key facet of resource management for national development is the utilisation of waste materials for the development of value-added products(Egun 2012). Nigeria has a population of about 186 million persons and generates about 0.58 kg of solid waste per individual (Babayemi and Dauda 2009). This is a significant amount of resource that can be utilised. Before these wastes can be used, they must first be collected. Indiscriminate dumping and/or dumpsite incineration are among some of the challenges faced in waste collection in Nigeria (Abila and Kantola 2013). Waste management efforts have been discussed on a city-by-city basis as there are reports for Ibadan (Ajani 2008), Akure/Ondo (Olanrewaju and Ilemobade 2009; Oloruntade, Pa, and Alao 2013), Lagos (Adewole 2009), Enugu (Fonta et al. 2007), Delta (Egun 2012), Abuja (Ezeah and Roberts 2012) amongst others. The recollection of waste materials in Nigeria is not yet systematised as it still requires human scavengers to sort out recyclable materials of interest from the dumpsites. Further discussions on better waste management strategies in Nigeria are presented by Uwadiegwu and Chukwu (2013).

The solid waste streams contain different classes of materials that can be harnessed for various purposes. These include paper, metals, glass, plastics, food remnants and textiles (Duru, Ikpeama, and Ibekwe 2019). The typical composition of the solid waste stream is shown in Figure 5, albeit from sampling in the federal capital territory (Duru, Ikpeama, and Ibekwe 2019). The food wastes can be biochemically (Nguyen 2014; Nguyen, Heaven, and Banks 2014) or thermo-chemically (Nanda et al. 2016) utilised for energy production. Metals can be recycled and re-used in the development of conductive composites for different applications (Ighalo and Adeniyi 2020b). Other materials from materials in the waste stream can also be utilised for other applications and are more comprehensively discussed elsewhere (Sridhar and Hammed 2014).

Figure 5. Typical composition of the solid waste stream in Nigeria (Duru, Ikpeama, and Ibekwe 2019)

An advantage of a waste-to-wealth approach is its environmental friendliness (Adewole 2009). The toxic emissions from landfills, water pollution by leachates and non-biodegradable polymers, and general environmental degradation are summarily reduced with such an approach. Further discussions on waste management for profitability are presented in Sridhar and Hammed (2014). The indigenous researchers have made a great effort in harnessing these waste materials for value-added products and are widely available in open literature. It is left to be seen how well the government, industrialists and other stakeholders can consider these options and commercialise these opportunities for sustainable national development.

4. University-industry collaboration in materials-to-product innovations

There is a need for industries to work closely with universities in the area of materials-to-product research (Oyebisi, Ilori, and Nassar 1996) and several studies have disused the issue extensively (Egbetokun, Siyanbola, and Oyewale 2011; Siyanbola et al. 2012; Ukpabio, Adeyeye, and Oluwatope 2016). Though the industries possess R&D labs, these do mainly targeted research in the domain of the companies’ product. The universities conduct basic research which can lead to patented inventions (Adeoti 2009). The universities often go to a more fundamental and broader extent in research. The industries are also quite relevant because the universities are not suited to commercialise these findings. More discussions on the commercialisation of R&D findings were presented by Ukwuoma, Amade, and Moghalu (2013). Studies have shown that the university-industry collaboration in Nigeria is poor and most research innovations and findings relevant to sustainable national development are ignored (Adeoti 2009; Juma 2006). Adeoti (2009) explained that the gap in educational and industrial policies is a key factor in the observed issue and this was in agreement with Bako (2005) who observed a delinking with the production sectors. More discussions of the technology transfer process are presented by Oyedoyin et al. (2013).

On the part of the academic institutions, directorates need to be set up to help the academics interphase properly with interested stakeholders from the industry. Innovative research has been encouraged in Nigerian public universities to improve the quality of findings for commercialisation that her academics has to offer to the outside world (Ahiauzu and Eketu 2015). There is a need to understand the prevailing socio-economic issues in the country and tailor research efforts in those directions so that findings are relevant and of sufficient interest to the industry stakeholders. It has been revealed that both product and process innovations are not only helpful to the major industrial players but to the small and medium enterprises (SME) (Akinwale, Adepoju, and Olomu 2017; Ibidunni, Iyiola, and Ibidunni 2009). This intimates on the broad reach and wide significance of university-industry collaborations in materials-to-product innovations for sustainable development. The SMEs are also important as they too are a major contributor to national development (Ogechukwu 2011). Furthermore, larger firms have been observed to be less receptive to drastic innovations and diversification (Patrick 2012). Due to the improvement of the basic knowledge levels of the average entrepreneur, SMEs now have improved capacity for innovation (Abereijo et al. 2007) but there is still a need for reliance on university innovations (Thaddeus 2012). More discussions on the challenges of R&D in SMEs are presented by Onuoha (2013).

Bako (2005) explained in detail how the lack of research grant and adequate funding has hindered research and development efforts in Nigeria over the past years. A further issue highlighted by Bako (2005) is the poor and indifferent attitude of the industrialists to research findings from the universities observed albeit over a decade ago. This is also still the case in the previous decade (Kruss, Adeoti, and Nabudere 2012) and also in current times. This could be as a result of the complex dynamics within the cooperate structure (Krishnan and Ulrich 2001; Martín-de Castro et al. 2013) required to fully initiate and utilise a new technology/innovation. Haven examined the drivers of innovation from the view-point of the industries, Egbetokun et al. (2008) came to similar conclusions. Egbetokun, Siyanbola, and Oyewale (2011) also presented an extended discussion on university-industry collaborations in product development research. In all these, the role of effective policy and planning cannot be overemphasised (Owolabi et al. 2012). When strategies are put in place to foster university-industry relations, positive results would invariably be achieved.

5. Recommendations and future perspectives

The paradox of Nigeria as a nation is this: although blessed with an enormous wealth of natural resources, she is afflicted by stagnating GDP growth rates. Despite its resource-abundance, it lacks economic development thus the following should be extensively worked on.

1. Due to the widespread of solid mineral across all states in the federation, pursuing the development of the solid minerals will not be a misplaced priority. However, complementary policy and infrastructure must be put in place to ensure the sustainability of materials-to-product development thus the industry and the government should explore and tap the untapped resources to achieve sustainable development.

2. Ever since petroleum (crude oil) was discovered in 1956, it has undisputedly contributed immensely to the revenue of the nation. This justifies the need to intensify efforts at boosting oil production and revenue to get optimum use of petroleum resources. However, experience has shown that natural oil reserve level could deplete to zero thus government must not over concentrate on these resources but diversify into other cleaner fuel sources. This also bears positive implications for environmental sustainability

3. Since cash crops produce like rubber, cocoa, palm oil and kernel, groundnut, cola nuts etc. can be largely produced for export and local consumption, substantial resources should be made available to the agriculture sector to ensure proper use of agricultural resources for materials-to-product development.

6. Concluding remarks

Though Nigeria has a large reserve of petroleum resources, it is deemed an unsuitable foundation for long-term planning in sustainable national development due to its non-renewability. Agricultural and solid mineral resources are also similarly as abundant as petroleum resources but have gained less interest in materials-to-product development due to lesser cash flow. It was recommended that complementary policy and infrastructure be put in place to ensure sustainability, and efforts are made to diversify out of the petroleum revenues. The issue of resource mismanagement and apathy to sustainable national development was discussed by Opeyemi (2012) alongside possible solutions. The key issue in waste management and conversion observed in the paper circled around the poor efficiency of the system of manual reclamation and sorting. The relationship between universities and the industries for product development was observed to be fractious. There is little synergy between both parties and lots of issues still abound in this regard. However, it can be concluded with reasonable certainty that Nigeria is blessed with abundant resources for materials-to-product innovations for sustainable development. The onus now falls on the relevant stakeholders to put the necessary machinery in place to harness the full potentials in materials-to-product innovation.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

This article does not contain any studies involving human or animal subjects.

Disclosure statement

Conflict of Interest:

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

There was no funding for the study.

Notes on contributors

Adewale George Adeniyi

Adewale George Adeniyi is a senior lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Ilorin, Nigeria. He holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Nigeria. He is interested in process and product development with a focus on computer-aided modelling and the optimisation of chemical process systems, biofuel production, and solid waste recycling.

Joshua O Ighalo

Joshua O. Ighalo is an academic staff of the Department of Chemical Engineering, Nnamdi Azikiwe University. He obtained his Bachelors’ Degree in Chemical Engineering in 2015 from the University of Benin, Nigeria. He also obtained a Masters’ Degree in Chemical Engineering in 2020 from the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. His research interests include computer-aided modelling and optimisation of chemical process systems, biofuel production, solid waste management, and environmental pollution control.

Comfort Abidemi Adeyanju

Comfort Abidemi Adeyanju is a graduate of chemical engineering. She obtained her bachelors' degree in Chemical Engineering in 2017 from the University of Ilorin, Nigeria and she is currently pursuing her Masters Degree in Chemical Engineering. Her research interests are reaction engineering, solid waste management and environmental pollution control.