Govt approves NARICT’s new adhesive for mass production – Acting Director

August 16, 2018

By Ijendu Iheaka

The National Research Institute for Chemical Technology, (NARICT), says that the Ministry of Science and Technology has approved the mass production of a new adhesive it developed to solve local users problems.

The Acting Director, NARICT, South East /South South zones, Mr Vincent Oriah made this known in an interview with our reporter in Aba on Thursday.

Oriah who told our reporter earlier that the institute applied to the ministry for approval in 2017 for up scaling of the product, said the approval had been granted.

The Acting Director said that the institute is now working hard to realize the project following the approval given by the ministry of science and technology.

He said that the institute has plans to set up a factory for the mass production of the adhesive but is awaiting the release of funds by the ministry to enable the execution of the plan.

The institute had announced in 2017 that it developed a strong adhesive which would solve a major bonding problem facing local leather manufacturers in Nigeria.

Oriah said that the strong adhesive named “multi-purpose adhesives” would save Nigeria some dollars in foreign exchange by reducing the rate local producers import adhesives for use.

He said the institute launched the research into strong local adhesive production because leather products manufacturers complained of low quality adhesives they buy from importers who adulterate before selling to them.

“They say the adulterated adhesives have affected the quality of their final products and that is very true. 

“But now we have developed an adhesive called the multi-purpose adhesive because the garment industry, the furniture industry, the leather products industry can also use it”, Oriah said.

Our reporter noted that NARICT was founded in 1964 as Hides and Skins Development Project of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization in collaboration with Nigeria.

It was later handed over to Nigeria’s government in 1972 which renamed it Federal Leather Training Institute (FLTI) and upgraded to a research institute in 1975 when it was renamed Leather Research Institute of Nigeria (LERIN).

However in 1988, its mandate was expanded to include research and development into chemicals and chemical products and for the third time it was renamed as NARICT.

It is in line with its new charge to provide innovative research and development in the processing and conversion of local raw materials into useful chemical products for local industrial use that it embarked on the adhesive project.