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How Prof. Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso Repositioning the Raw Materials Sector For Economic Diversification
By Joel Ajayi
As we embark on a journey, we always pray for an able, experienced, and courageous driver, pilot, or sailor depending on the means of transportation.
This is because the captain will have enough experience and boldness to navigate out of turbulence and to bring all the passengers and crew to the intended destination.
Interestingly, these fine qualities of ability, experience, boldness, and many more, abound in the man, Prof. Nnanyelugo Martins Ike-Muonso, who we all are pleased was appointed the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, RMRDC, the Director General/CEO by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu a few months ago.
This is because he has brought his knowledge, ability, experience, and doggedness to bear in carrying out his assignment in charge of the Council.
The RMRDC, operating under the Federal
The Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Technology, is pivotal in driving Nigeria’s industrial growth by optimizing local raw materials exploitation, development, and utilization. RMRDC, ab initio, was conceived as a child of necessity when Nigeria was reeling from the throes of global recession and plummeting crude oil prices.
Without an iota of doubt, today, the council is experiencing a transformation with massive innovation in raw material exploitation, development, and utilization, supporting business and industrial growth, and contributing to Nigeria’s economic prosperity.
Speaking this during a press briefing on Tuesday, in Abuja to commemorate his 100 days in office said the council is laying a solid foundation through numerous innovations that will further enhance growth in the country.
According to him, in the past 100 days, my strategic pursuits have been to lay solid foundations for enduring success in these goals.
“Upon assuming this position, I set five crucial deliverables which include, refocusing the Council as a premier research institution; Strengthening the Council’s productivity and operational efficiency; Significantly improving the staff welfare to be the best in the class of similar organizations;
“Others include, Boosting the Council’s visibility and instituting remarkable culture change that encourages ownership and productivity as well as Strengthening and deepening the Council’s place in the international arena.”
While speaking on his Achievements so far, the DG revealed: “My first task, therefore, was to implement a strategic goal-setting for the Council’s staff to define and set out clear objectives and targets to be achieved by the Council within a specified period towards refocusing on this historical mandate. We unleashed five significant initiatives in that regard.
“The nationwide raw material data collection exercise that focused on technical and investment information. erships to drive our mission forward.
“The restructuring and renaming of the former Technology Innovation Complex (TIC) at the Obasanjo Space Center at Airport Road, Abuja, to a Research and Demonstration Plants Complex (RDPC). This complex will be Africa’s first center of excellence in raw material research, featuring state-of-the-art laboratories, technology development workshops, and proof of concept demonstrations.
“We have reactivated the Council’s Journal and repositioned it internationally. The repositioned Journal of Raw Material Research [JORMAR] will host RMRDC’s researchers’ publications, which are crucial in promoting awareness, facilitating knowledge sharing, and informing stakeholders about the opportunities and challenges in Nigeria’s raw materials sector.
“The collaboration with universities and academies will strengthen our capacity for conducting market-guided research, ensuring sustained workforce training while deepening our orientation in science.
The council has reformulated a new template for all our research proposals to ensure and sustain a clear departure from the old culture of blue-sky and deliberately endless research.
Speaking further, Prof Nwanyelugo Martins Ike-Muonso stated that Staff welfare remains a top priority as an issue of unpaid salaries is settled as well as set up a comprehensive welfare program.
“Similarly, we established the RMRDC Training School to sustainably build our staff and stakeholders’ capacity to further the staff welfare improvement goal.
“We are committed to openness, inclusiveness, and performance management and have initiated steps to continuously improve staff ownership, orchestrate transformative culture change, boost our corporate visibility, and enhance
“To further strengthen our visibility and communication strategies, we are upgrading our media infrastructure, which includes the launch of the RMRDC online media platform, The RMRDC TV Online.
“We are committed to openness, inclusiveness, and performance management and have initiated steps to continuously improve staff ownership, orchestrate transformative culture change, boost our corporate visibility, and enhance
“Additionally, we are working hard to effectively enhance the intellectual property and patent portfolio of RMRDC from its current 40 to approximately 200 new patents within the next 24 months. This proactive approach secures valuable IP assets and positions the Council as a leader in innovation within the raw materials sector, contributing to Nigeria’s overall economic growth.
“As well as launching an e-registration and certification portal to enhance transparency in the raw materials sector,” DG revealed.
He however reaffirmed his commitment to reshape the future of research, technology, and innovation, driving Nigeria towards an industrially vibrant and technologically resilient economy.
“As I mark 100 days in office, I boldly say that the Council is on the verge of rewriting its history.
“I believe that in no distant future, RMRDC will play a leading role in enhancing raw materials’ development to boost raw materials’ industrial trial processing and attain sustainable industrial growth in Nigeria.
DG, however, applauded the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology, Chief Uche Geoffrey Nnaji, for his unwavering support and mentorship, saying the Minister’s leadership has been instrumental in the progress made so far.
In his opening remarks, the Directorate of Corporate Affairs, Mr Chucks Ngaha commended the hard-working DG who has weathered the storm further to put the Council on the ladder of more prosperity.
Featured
Strategic Partnerships, Diaspora Investment and Improved Workforce Critical to Industrialization-DG RMRDC
By: Stella Azi and Adaora Adibe
The Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Prof. Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso, has called for a strategic shift from the exportation of raw commodities to domestic processing, manufacturing and value addition, declaring that Nigeria possesses enormous untapped raw material resources capable of driving industrialisation, creating jobs and strengthening the country’s economic competitiveness.
Prof. Ike-Muonso made this submission in a lecture titled Unlocking Nigeria’s Raw Material Value Chain for Industrialization, Manufacturing and Competitiveness, where he presented an extensive assessment of Nigeria’s resource endowments, industrial challenges and emerging investment opportunities across agricultural commodities, solid minerals and waste-based raw materials.
The lecture highlighted a combined US$2.65 trillion global market opportunity across 30 major raw material value chains, comprising 12 agricultural value chains valued at US$932 billion, 11 mineral value chains worth US$1.352 trillion and seven circular-economy value chains estimated at US$366 billion.
According to the RMRDC Boss, Nigeria must move beyond the traditional approach of extracting and exporting raw materials to building competitive domestic industries that transform these resources into intermediate products, industrial inputs and finished goods for local consumption and international markets.
He observed that the country’s manufacturing sector has struggled to sustain its 2014 peak, with its contribution to real Gross Domestic Product declining from 9.64 per cent in 2014 to 8.05 per cent in 2025, representing a 16.5 per cent decline. He also drew attention to the increasing cost of raw material imports, which rose to US$20.5 billion in 2025, approximately six times the 2020 level.
He explained that the growing dependence on imported industrial inputs exposes Nigerian manufacturers to foreign exchange volatility, increases production costs and weakens the competitiveness of locally manufactured products.
Prof. ke-Muonso stressed that the solution lies in developing domestic raw material value chains through deliberate investment in processing facilities, research and development, technology, infrastructure and stronger linkages between producers, processors and manufacturers.
He identified agriculture, solid minerals and industrial waste as three major resource platforms for Nigeria’s industrial transformation, stating the country’s significant production capacity and the enormous opportunities available for downstream processing.
Ike-Muonso noted that Nigeria produces over 63 million metric tonnes of cassava annually, making it the world’s largest producer, while also maintaining strong positions in cocoa, cashew, sesame, palm oil and cotton. However, more than 80 per cent of agricultural output leaves farms without adequate processing, resulting in the loss of significant economic value and industrial opportunities.
In the solid minerals sector, he identified more than 44 commercially viable minerals across over 500 locations, including lithium, gold, barite, bitumen, iron ore and high-grade limestone, describing them as strategic resources capable of supporting steel production, energy storage, electrification and advanced manufacturing.
The DG further drew attention to Nigeria’s industrial and agro-waste resources, noting that the country generates over 32 million tonnes of solid waste annually. He explained that agricultural residues, cassava peels, scrap metals, plastics and electronic waste could serve as important feedstock for bio-fertilisers, industrial chemicals, recycled polymers, energy production and other manufacturing applications.
In the agricultural sector, the DG identified cassava and industrial starch, cotton and natural textiles, natural rubber and elastomers, oil palm and oleochemicals, maize derivatives and cocoa processing as priority areas requiring increased investment.
He explained that processing agricultural commodities into industrial starch, sweeteners, textiles, technical rubber, specialty fats and other intermediate products would enable Nigeria to capture more value from its agricultural resources while reducing dependence on imported industrial inputs.
For the minerals sector, he highlighted crude oil-to-olefins and petrochemicals, lithium and energy storage, iron ore and steel, rare earth elements, bauxite and aluminium, and copper and electrification as strategic investment opportunities.
He particularly emphasised the importance of moving beyond mineral extraction into beneficiation, refining, battery precursors, industrial chemicals, metal fabrication and advanced materials production.
On the circular economy, Prof. Ike-Muonso identified electronic waste recovery, scrap metal recycling, plastic waste processing, agro-waste valorisation and battery recycling as emerging industrial opportunities.
He explained that transforming waste into productive industrial feedstock would not only reduce environmental pollution but also create new manufacturing industries, generate employment and reduce the importation of valuable industrial materials.
He noted that to address the structural challenges confronting raw material-based industrialisation, the DG highlighted the strategic interventions of the RMRDC, particularly the proposed 30% Value Addition Bill and the Nigeria Integrated Information Statistical System for Raw Materials and Products (NISSRAMP).
He described the 30% Value Addition Bill as an important policy instrument designed to encourage domestic processing of raw materials before export, strengthen local manufacturing capacity and guarantee access to essential raw materials for Nigerian industries, and NISSRAMP as a critical data infrastructure that would improve access to verified information on the availability, location and quality of raw materials.
According to him, the combination of appropriate policy instruments and reliable resource data would help de-risk investments, improve transparency and strengthen confidence in Nigeria’s raw material sector.
He emphasised the importance of collaboration among government, academia and industry in developing bankable projects, sharing investment risks and accelerating the establishment of processing and manufacturing facilities.
Professor Ike-Muonso called on Nigerians in the diaspora and other local and international investors to take advantage of the opportunities available in Nigeria’s raw material sector.
He identified industrial processing parks, mineral beneficiation and refining, agro-industrial platforms, circular-material processing, industrial input manufacturing and enabling infrastructure as viable investment platforms.
He noted that diaspora investors could contribute beyond financial capital by bringing technology, international business networks, governance standards, technical expertise and access to global markets.
He maintained that Nigeria’s industrial transformation requires coordinated investment across the entire value chain, from raw material sourcing and aggregation to processing, manufacturing, certification and export development.
Professor Ike-Muonso stressed that the country’s industrial future would depend not merely on the volume of raw materials extracted but on the capacity to transform them into competitive products that meet domestic and international market requirements.
He maintained that developing local value chains would stimulate industrial growth, create employment opportunities, diversify exports, conserve foreign exchange and deepen Nigeria’s technological capabilities.
Through its strategic interventions, the RMRDC is positioning itself as a critical bridge between resource availability, investment opportunities and industrial competitiveness, with the ultimate objective of transforming Nigeria from a predominantly raw material exporting economy into a strong manufacturing and value-adding nation.
Ike-Muonso has demonstrated this since assumption of office as the Director General/ CEO RMRDC in the area of capacity building, improved working conditions, promotion of merit, and maintaining a conducive environment that rewards excellence, innovation and dedication. This is evident in his institution of RMRDC training school, reward for winners of the RMRDC innovation challenge among others.
His commitment has brought recognition both nationally and internationally: Al-Jazirah double honour awards as Public Servant /Government Agency of the year 2024-2025 and the recent election as the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Representative on the Board of the World Association of Industrial and Technological Research Organisations (WAITRO) is a attestation to his commitment.
Concluding the lecture, the DG charged staff, researchers, manufacturers and investors to see themselves as nation builders in the new era of raw materials-led industrialization.
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