Talks in Abuja set out joint work on training for defence technical personnel, hydrogen and battery systems, corrosion management, and a route from research to production under the DICON Act.
The Africa Centre of Excellence in Future Energies and Electrochemical Systems (ACE-FUELS), FUTO, has held high-level discussions with the Defence Research and Development Bureau (DRDB) in Abuja on strengthening Nigeria’s indigenous defence research, technological innovation and specialised capacity development.
At the engagement on 2 November 2026, the Centre Leader, Prof. Emeka E. Oguzie, FAS, accompanied by the ACE-FUELS Project Coordinator, Mr Ogbonnia Urom Chukwu, presented opportunities for collaboration in specialised defence technology training, hydrogen energy systems, advanced batteries, corrosion management and asset life extension.
The presentation highlighted ACE-FUELS’ growing technological capabilities, including recent sodium-ion battery training delivered with the Faraday Institution and an integrated energy-system demonstration at the Centre, alongside the Research 7.x framework for connecting research to innovation, commercialisation and measurable impact.
The proposed collaboration rests on complementary strengths. ACE-FUELS brings laboratory infrastructure, materials and electrochemical capability and international research partnerships; DRDB brings defined operational requirements, test and evaluation capacity and domain expertise across the maritime, aerospace and land environments. Research conceived against a requirement the Bureau sets is research with a user attached from the outset.
Discussions also explored pathways for translating research into indigenous defence technologies, including opportunities under the DICON Act 2023, which establishes a Technology, Research and Development Institute mandated to evaluate research outputs for possible commercialisation and expressly contemplates partnership with universities.
Senior technical officers from the DRDB Directorates of Maritime, Aerospace, Test and Evaluation, Coordination, Procurement and Finance participated in the engagement, which also considered formal institutional collaboration, postgraduate research and jointly developed research initiatives. The proposed partnership aims to connect Nigerian research capabilities with clearly defined national technological needs, strengthening the country’s capacity to develop, evaluate and progressively produce critical technologies locally.
ACE-FUELS, the Africa Centre of Excellence in Future Energies and Electrochemical Systems, is hosted at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri.
It runs postgraduate research programmes in Corrosion Technology, Electrochemical Technology, Future Energies and Nanotechnology, alongside professional short courses and a portfolio of international research partnerships.
The Centre is led by Professor Emeka E. Oguzie, FAS.
