Nigeria News

Kilishi Trends On Twitter After RMRDC Boss Lists It As Research Breakthrough In Nigeria

Published

9 June 2020

9:52 AM

The Director-General of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Professor Hussain Ibrahim caused a mild drama on Monday when he appeared before the Nigerian Senate after he listed Kilishi as a technological breakthrough in Nigeria.

The RMRDC boss had appeared before the lawmakers to brief them on the achievements and activities of the agency in its 33 years of existence.

At the briefing, the Chairman of the Senate panel, Senator Uche Ekwunife, had asked Professor Ibrahim to tell them the success stories recorded by the research institute.

Ekwunife said, “Your core mandate is to develop local materials.

“Can you tell us the local raw materials you have developed in the areas of health, brewery, construction, science, and technology, or agriculture?

“Just give us the synopsis of what you have developed or generated for local industries. Tell us about your breakthrough.”

In his response, Prof Ibrahim listed the commercial production of Kilishi as a major achievement of the agency in 33 years despite its lack of a laboratory.

The submission produced a mixture of anger and laughter from the audience and senators.

“We have developed two varieties of Sorghum. We collaborated with agricultural research institutes, pharmaceutical industries because we produce ethanol from it and that is the basic raw material for the production of sanitizers.

“Also from the same Sorghum, we developed other products like Glucose syrup, livestock feeds, material for breweries, and starch.”

Ibrahim added that: “We have not reached that stage. It goes through processes. We have tested it now but the stage we are now is the pilot stage.

“That pilot stage will now lead to the optimization of the products. At that pilot stage, we would now see if what we have finally done are technically feasible or commercially viable. We have to determine that.

“After we had determined that. We will now ask relevant industries to take them for mass production.

“In our 30 years of research activities, we are still the largest research Institute. But to be candid with you, we are making progress.

“For now, we have developed technology to optimize Kilishi production. Research activities take time.”

After the drama in the Senate chamber, see how Nigerians have been reacting on Twitter after the submission by the RMRDC boss.

Can we just throw the whole RMRDC away since ‘Kilishi’ is a Research Breakthrough, Before Professor Hussian Ibrahim will come back to tell us they are also working on Plantain chips. ?

Abeg, any time they eventually sell this country, use my share for Give Away, any amount. ?

— Oloye Ayo Gbadebo (@holudaray) June 9, 2020

Asides Kilishi, the following were omitted by the prof as breakthrough inventions…
? Kunu
? Zobo
? Agbo
? Suya

Just add the ones I didn’t mention.

This people no rate us.
Where is our money going to?
Who is sharing the research funds?
Are we a joke to this man?

— Terkuma Iorjaah (@TerkumaI) June 9, 2020

Abeg Abeg!!!!
Nigeria tire me…kilishi technology advancement
Who curse this country ehen?

— THE PLETHORA? (@deewhyplethora) June 9, 2020

Kilishi??? This country called Nigeria don taya me????https://t.co/OxvQRaMINW

— ?? ?? #JusticeForUwa #SaynotoRape #NoisNo (@Mazipita) June 9, 2020

Isn’t it wonderful that in 33 years of huge budgets in research, we got KILISHI.

We must take full advantage of this technology. We must ramp up production of kilishi to export to other countries

kilishi is on a whole new level, it is a global phenomenon. Why’s kunu not among?

— Emmanuel Alexander Obi (@JustEmmah_) June 8, 2020

33 years of it’s existence, only kilishi technology was develop into commercial quantity by Raw Materials Research and Development Council.When we are serious as a country, we will reduce the numbers of unproductive MDAs in Nigeria. #HighCostOfGovernance @DrJoeAbah @NGRSenate

— Muhammed Murtala (@murtalamoha) June 8, 2020