Sunday Ehigiator reviews the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure under the leadership of Khalil Suleiman Halilu
When Khalil Suleiman Halilu assumed office as the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) in September 2023, the institution stood at a critical crossroads.
Established as the engine room for Nigeria’s industrial and technological development, NASENI had long carried a reputation for promise rather than performance. Its mandate was vast, its potential immense, but its impact on daily life and the wider economy remained limited.
Two years later, an unmistakable transformation has taken root. NASENI today is referenced in presidential speeches, endorsed by state governments, courted by global investors, and celebrated by engineers, farmers, innovators, students, pilots, and manufacturers.
Across 36 states and the FCT, its footprint is visible in restored tractors, solar-powered farms, women drone pilots, CNG conversion centres, electric vehicles, diagnostic kits, defence technologies, smart devices, STEM classrooms, agritech parks, and national innovation hubs.
The agency’s evolution from an institution of prototypes to a driver of national transformation is captured in its guiding mantra: ‘From Policy to Action’. But beyond slogans, the past two years reveal a deeper story; a story of reform, discipline, innovation, and impact driven by a young technocrat determined to prove that Nigeria can build what it needs and compete with the world.
The Institutional Reforms
One of the most dramatic shifts under Halilu was the introduction of a performance-based governance culture that tied the agency’s operational rhythm to measurable outcomes.
At the heart of this transformation was the decision to implement a 100 per cent budget reorientation tied strictly to deliverables. For the first time in the agency’s history, every project had a timeline, a responsible team, a measurable output, and a clear justification tied to national priorities.
Complementing this approach were five institutional frameworks created to provide strategic clarity. The Accelerated Technology Transfer Strategy opened pathways for sourcing global technologies, localising them, and rapidly adapting them to Nigeria’s needs.
The Green Economy Roadmap aligned NASENI’s work with Nigeria’s sustainability goals. The Innovation-to-Commercialisation Framework finally bridged the age-old gap between research outputs and market-ready products.
The 3Cs Blueprint, centred on Creation, Collaboration, and Commercialisation, gave the agency a unified identity. And the deployment of a full Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system introduced transparency and digital governance into every arm of operations.
To strengthen execution, the agency created Project and Implementation Management Offices that ensured that initiatives no longer stalled after procurement or design but moved swiftly to delivery. This suite of reforms, taken together, birthed what NASENI staff now describes as “the NASENI way”: a disciplined, accountable, innovation-driven culture focused on national impact.
Rise of Indigenous Products
Perhaps the clearest evidence of NASENI’s transformation lies in the products it has developed, commercialised, and pushed into the Nigerian market. Within two years, the agency announced the commercialisation of 44 indigenous products, many of which were already in active use across the country.
In the energy sector, NASENI’s innovations include solar irrigation pumps, solar panels, cookstoves, and smart meters. These technologies are now central to national debates on reducing diesel dependence, boosting rural agriculture, pursuing cleaner energy, and empowering women.
The solar pumps, in particular, became one of NASENI’s shining stars; a solution that cuts irrigation costs by up to seventy per cent and has been approved by the National Economic Council for nationwide deployment.
In the mobility sector, NASENI’s work on electric tricycles, electric pickup vans, electric motorcycles, and CNG conversion centres has positioned the agency as a key player in Nigeria’s shift to clean mobility. NASENI’s CNG centres in Abuja, along with its training of engineers in conversion technology, became a major catalyst for the government’s national gas transition plan.
The health sector felt NASENI’s impact through the establishment of the NASENI-Troment Rapid Diagnostics Factory in Abuja, capable of producing world-class rapid diagnostic kits. Assistive technologies for people living with disabilities also emerged from the agency’s engineering clusters.
In ICT and STEM, NASENI introduced a wave of digital tools, from tablets and laptops to educational kits and the innovative HatchBox STEM Lab; now used by teachers and students across states.
Infrastructure That Shapes the Future
Beyond manufacturing products, NASENI under Halilu executed more than 55 national projects, each designed to address structural problems facing Nigeria’s economy and society.
One of the most significant is the 40-hectare Solar Industrial Park in Nasarawa, designed to become a renewable energy hub capable of creating up to 4,000 jobs and powering industries in the North Central region. The project aligns with NASENI’s broader green economy roadmap.
Another is the CNG Reverse Engineering Centre in Abuja, which has already trained hundreds of engineers as Nigeria intensifies its transition away from petrol and diesel.
But the most ambitious project of this era may be the National Asset Restoration Programme, a bold effort to revive Nigeria’s broken-down agricultural machinery. With over fifty-five thousand abandoned tractors across the country, NASENI moved swiftly, restoring more than one thousand units within months.
This intervention saved states billions of naira, revived mechanised farming, and unlocked immediate agricultural productivity. States such as Borno publicly announced an agricultural revival after the agency restored their fleets.
NASENI also advanced the aviation and defence sector through NASCAV Technologies, which delivered Nigeria’s first UAV School and facilities for aircraft recovery. Work on helicopter components, unmanned vehicles, and defence equipment, in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence and DICON, expanded Nigeria’s local content in national security.
Empowering Citizens through Technology
NASENI’s transformation under Halilu has also been deeply people-centred, with empowerment programmes cutting across gender, geography, discipline, and skill levels.
The SheFly Programme became widely celebrated for training rural women farmers in drone operation and maintenance, providing them with new tools for precision agriculture, mapping, and surveillance.
The DELT-Her Women in Engineering Fund grew dramatically, from barely over one hundred applicants in its first edition to almost ten thousand in its second. Grants were increased to help more women pursue engineering education, build startups, and participate in research.
The agency’s Tech Roadshows in all 36 states symbolised a new era of institutional visibility, taking NASENI’s innovations to markets, schools, farms, private sector hubs, and youth events across Nigeria.
These were matched by the NASENI Innovation Hub and Innovate Naija Challenge, both designed to create pathways for local inventors to access mentorship, funding, and commercialisation support. The Reverse Japa Talent Initiative sought to rebuild Nigeria’s intellectual capital by engaging talented Nigerian engineers and innovators in the diaspora.
New Approach to Food Security
Of all NASENI’s interventions, few have captured national attention like the Irrigate Nigeria Programme. This initiative is designed to create year-round farming through solar-powered irrigation, improved agricultural inputs, and state-backed support structures.
Bauchi State became the flagship example, where NASENI established a model ten-hectare farm employing centralised solar irrigation systems. The benefits were clear: reduced reliance on rainfall, increased farm yields, the creation of rural jobs, and enhanced food security.
The programme includes a repayment model that allows farmers to grow crops using NASENI infrastructure, remit an agreed portion of their harvest, and contribute to strategic food reserves for nationwide distribution. This approach is being hailed in government circles as a promising template for stabilising food prices and reducing inflation.
Expanding National Footprint
Two years of reform also saw NASENI expand its physical presence. With 18 institutes and research centres, six Centres of Excellence, six Agritech Parks, new drone facilities, and fresh innovation hubs, the agency’s infrastructure is now one of the most extensive in Nigeria’s science and engineering ecosystem.
Perhaps the most futuristic of these developments is the Sustainable and Emerging Technologies Institute (SETI) located at Bayero University, Kano. Sitting on 30 hectares, SETI is dedicated to artificial intelligence, robotics, smart manufacturing, advanced materials, and emerging digital technologies; an investment that signals NASENI’s intention to lead Nigeria into the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Partnerships and Global Positioning
NASENI’s transformation also extended to global engagement. The agency signed more than fifty Memoranda of Understanding with international and local partners spanning China, the Czech Republic, the UAE, and the United Kingdom.
Through these engagements, NASENI attracted investment commitments exceeding two billion dollars, opened channels for knowledge transfer, and secured technical collaborations with major manufacturers such as Haier, Chery, Yingli Solar, Caverton, Z-Park, Shanghai Launch Automotive, and Dongfeng.
Local partnerships with the Rural Electrification Agency, Nigerian Air Force, DSS, DICON, MECA, and universities across the country strengthened NASENI’s domestic influence.
Halilu himself became a regular presence on the global stage. He received the African Achievers Award at the UK Parliament, was listed among THISDAY’s Young Global Leaders, and presented Nigeria’s sustainability ambitions at the WAYS Conference in China, where he unveiled the ZeCo by NASENI clean mobility initiative.
Changing Culture From Within
NASENI’s reform journey was not limited to external stakeholders. Halilu pushed for internal transformation, insisting that all NASENI institutes prioritise the use of in-house products. This policy accelerated adoption, strengthened inter-agency feedback mechanisms, and boosted staff pride.
Cross-institute training, bi-annual product showcases, and digital performance dashboards created new habits within the NASENI workforce; habits anchored on competition, innovation, and accountability.
New Scorecard for New NASENI
The numbers tell their own story. In two years, NASENI achieved 44 commercialised products, implemented 55 national-impact projects, created more than 30 thousand direct jobs, and reached millions indirectly.
Over 7,000 women and young people benefited from empowerment initiatives. All 36 states and the FCT received interventions, while over 1,000 tractors were restored.
With five new national frameworks, fifty-plus partnerships, and massive infrastructure expansion, NASENI today resembles a central engine of the country’s development system.
Birth of National Movement
The story of NASENI over the past two years is not just about engineering, technology, or industrialisation. It is also about belief; the belief that Nigerians can design, build, invent, produce, restore, maintain, innovate, and transform their country using homegrown capacity.
NASENI’s shift from policy to action is not an abstract slogan; it is visible in the revived tractors in farmlands, the drones flown by rural women, the solar pumps used by smallholder farmers, the diagnostic kits in hospitals, the tablets in classrooms, the electric vehicles on test tracks, the engineers trained in CNG conversion, and the innovators guided toward commercialisation.
It is a story of possibilities made practical, and dreams translated into prototypes, products, and national programmes.
As Nigeria grapples with the urgent need for economic diversification, technology sovereignty, food security, and industrial rebirth, NASENI has emerged as one of the few government institutions demonstrating that transformation is not only possible but already underway.
Or, as Halilu himself puts it, “We are quietly, but boldly, proving that Nigeria can build the future it dreams of; and the world is watching.”
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