‘With support, Nigerian inventors can be amazing!’
@SimonEchewofun @LatifatOpoola
Around the globe, entrepreneurship is central to innovation, wealth creation, and job growth, as well as to political stability. At its core, it is about new ways of organizing, new methods of production, new goods, new services, and new markets.
Entrepreneurs are a diverse lot, but regardless of their location, their size, or their industry, the environments in which they operate — the ecosystem — can and does dramatically impact their survival, their growth, and their success.
That is why the ecosystem must nurture and support entrepreneurial start up and growth — to ensure that entrepreneurs operate on a level playing field, that their rights are protected, and that the same rules are consistently applied to all.
Rueben Sani Sako is a researcher, an inventor and an innovator, owns RUBSAN Nigeria Enterprises, a company that specializes in manufacturing traffic lights controllers, cars and building security system voltage, circuit breakers, dehydrating machines amongst other things.
In this encounter with the Daily Trust YOUTHVILLE, the Kaduna state indigene lamented how he has inventions has suffered decades of neglects from government halting the success of most of his projects.
He said the dearth of scientists in Nigeria and Africa is lack of competent and corrupt staff to realize and identify who a genius, stressing that inventions and innovations are carried out by genius and not talents.
The researcher, who won the Year 2000 award of best inventor and innovator of the millennium, wondered how ministry of Science and Technology since its inception in 1979 could not solve most research work given to them.
To that regard he has written over a dozen letters since the early 2000s for FG to support his project but was frustrated with lack of support and cooperation.
He boasted that he is one of the few Nigerians who can design very good machines in the country having carried out his research and development with defines Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) Research and development team for five years.
“Tell us what you need a machine to do and provide the required materials locally with the tools and I will surely present you with a feasible, workable and marketable machine or gadget,” he boasted.
He noted that he can make automated fire-fighting machine, building security system, bank anti robbery system, three phase failure delay, checkpoint/road block deflating machine, bone crushing machine, sand filtering machine, automatic speed control expected to reduce accidents in the country, also devices like the demobilizes which should stop offenders on the high way amongst numerous others but cannot forge ahead with his projects because of lack of support from the ministry.
The genius was approved to install the standard prototype model of indigenous traffic signal control system in Kaduna state but the state’s ministry of works and transport insisted he must do so as his own cost.
His worry was that when Nigerians with great talents are tossed around in search of financial support, they may get frustrated and abandon the great ideas that could solve pertinent issues.
A healthy ecosystem encourages individuals to act on entrepreneurial intentions and then supports that action. It provides political space for businesses to advocate for proentrepreneurial policies, and upholds the rule of law to ensure businesses operate with the same opportunities and the same set of regulations.
“It’s amazing what entrepreneurs can do in the marketplace and what they can accomplish when they are supported. They bring their innovative ideas, passion, and energy to both stages.
He warned that the only way of making democracy deliver for every citizen through the provision of support and enabling environment for every entrepreneur.