A king paid some foreign professional tailors to teach his villagers how to sow clothes. After learning, the villagers requested for materials to begin sewing clothes for the whole village, but the king refused. Instead, the king sells their available cotton materials to foreigners, while his soldiers guard the cotton-farms and warehouses. Eventually, many villagers lost faith and interest in learning sewing and locked up the ‘useless’ tailoring school. With the restriction of access to mineral resources for production, it may not be out of place to close down most of the engineering departments in Nigeria.
Engineering is the branch of science and technology concerned with the design, building, and use of engines, machines, and structures.[1] Engineers are among the most important people in every society, as they develop the physical structure of the society. After conceiving great ideas of society’s physical structures, leaders depend on engineers to actualize those ideas. The success and sustenance of every society depends, not only on leaders’ decisions, but also on engineers’ efficiency and availability. Even in hospitals, schools, residences, playgrounds, churches, offices, markets, roads, bridges, combats and general life, engineering roles cannot be overemphasized.
There are three sectors of production or physical productivity in every society.[2]
- Primary production (extraction or gathering): this is the process of extracting or harvesting natural resources in one’s environment in their crude form. Activities in this sector includes Mining (coal, copper, crude oil, gold or any mineral resource), fishing, forestry and farming.[3] The machines used for this primary production – mining, fishing, forestry and farming – are produced by engineers.
- Secondary production (processing): this is the process of refining, manufacturing and constructing finished goods and structures from the extracted crude resources. This includes steel work, engine-constructions, buildings, purification and other industrial processes to prepare resources for use.[4]
This stage is proper to engineers, who have been trained to purify and process crude resources. The process of refining crude resources into finished goods is often complex and lengthy. Hence, engineers are often organized to specialize in various levels or sections of a particular production. For instance, producing a car involves working on steal, glass, rubber and other raw materials that combine to form a car. Hence, different engineers specialize in different parts and stages of this auto-manufacturing.
- Tertiary production (distribution): This is the process of distributing refined resources for the development and satisfaction of human needs in the society. The success of the tertiary production is dependent on the success of the primary and secondary. It involves legal, accounting, customer care, distribution and repair services.[5] Doctors treat patients with scanners, syringe and other machines made available by engineers; pharmacists make drugs using machines from engineers; drivers, builders, musicians, pastors, teachers, programmers, designers, callers, all use machines from engineers. There may not be any modified physical material we touch that has not undergone stages of processing by several engineers.
Unfortunately, Nigerian engineers (within Nigeria) may never share in this glorious function of social creativity and fulfilment despite their good results. They may never be able to produce real machines that for other levels of production because the Nigerian Mineral and Mining Act restricts Nigerian’s access to mineral resources, as it states:
“… all lands in which minerals have been found in Nigeria and any area covered by its territorial waters or constituency and the Exclusive Economic Zone shall, from the commencement of this Act be acquired by the Government of the Federation…”[6] “No person shall search for or exploit mineral resources in Nigeria or divert or impound any water for the purpose of mining except as provided in this Act.”[7] “The property in mineral resources shall pass from the Government to the person by whom the mineral resources are lawfully won, upon their recovery in accordance with this Act.”[8]
Because of this militarized restriction of access to mineral resources, trained Nigerian engineers are unable to demonstrate their creativity. Instead, many of them have resorted to importing, coupling and selling foreign machines, commodities and services. And those who do not have enough capital for importing and selling learn to repair imported ones when they spoil.
Today, many engineers are employed to use their calculative faculties for counting the exchange of imported goods and services. Some of the best Nigerian engineers either travel out to practice their craft or work in banks, management, auditing, insurance and other service providing firms, while their counterparts in Asia, America and Europe continue to produce items for importation to Nigeria. Yet, different Nigerian governments emphasize their dedication for sponsoring science and technology students,[9] who end up working in banks.
Sponsoring engineers who will not gain access to resources for production is like training tailors who will not get sewing materials. And unless Nigerians retrieve their access to their resources, engineering departments in Nigeria may as well be closed. Many students spend so much to study engineering only to mimic or admire and count productions in other countries. With this, the cost of sustaining engineering departments in Nigeria may be considered a leaking cost.
[1] Oxford online dictionary. S.V. engineering https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/engineering
[2] http://www.learnmanagement2.com/industrialsectorsprimarytertiarysecondary.htm
[3] Ibid
[4] Cf. Ibid
[5] Cf. Ibid
[6] Nigerian minerals and mining act 2007 act no. 20, chapter 1, Part 1, Section 1, paragraph 2
[7] Nigerian minerals and mining act 2007 act no. 20, chapter 1, Part 1, Section 2, paragraph 1
[8] Nigerian minerals and mining act 2007 act no. 20, chapter 1, Part 1, Section 1, paragraph 3
[9] John-Bosco Agbakwuru,” FG declares state of emergency on science and technology” in Vanguard 03-08-2017 https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/08/bars-foreign-professionals-without-nigerian-certification/