The Abuja sun blazed overhead as Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, stepped into the heart of Nigeria’s innovation engine, the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI).
What she came to see was more than machines, workshops, and laboratories; it was the beating pulse of a Made-in-Nigeria industrial renaissance.
Guided by Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu, NASENI’s executive vice chairman, the Minister toured a string of facilities, the sleek NASENI Innovation Hub, the bustling technology site at Abuja Technology Village, the Troment pharmaceutical plant, and the expansive Abuja Technology Park in Idu Industrial Area. Each stop revealed a vision brought to life: factories humming, engineers at work, and products proudly stamped “Made in Nigeria.”
This was no ceremonial visit. Just weeks earlier, Halilu had briefed her at the ministry, promising she would see for herself what the agency was achieving. Today, she wasn’t looking at concept notes, Memoranda of Understanding, or investor promises, she was seeing tangible results.
“I have come, and I have seen many things,” she told reporters after the tour. “I have seen 100 per cent Nigerian-made products. I have met happy investors who are working at pace, setting the standard not just for Nigeria, but for the region and the world.”
The tour was a showcase of ambition: from NASENI’s showroom of locally engineered technologies to a Troment facility preparing to produce world-class drugs, including HIV vaccines, and even a ride in the agency’s anti-ballistic missile armoured vehicle. For the Minister, the experience underscored NASENI’s potential as a driver of national economic transformation.
“This is the kind of energy we need, vision, innovation, and commitment to domestic content,” she said, urging Halilu to keep inspiring the next generation and to accelerate the agency’s commercialisation efforts.
Halilu, in turn, thanked the Minister, the Permanent Secretary, Ambassador Nura Abba Rimi, and other dignitaries for the visit, calling for even closer collaboration to strengthen productivity. He revealed that NASENI already has over 40 market-ready products capable of competing globally, with more breakthroughs on the horizon.
For a country pushing its Nigeria First Policy, this wasn’t just an inspection tour, it was a glimpse into a future where homegrown innovation fuels jobs, industry, and pride.
