By Funmilayo Adeyemi
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has inaugurated an ad-hoc committee on the establishment of central multipurpose laboratories in selected universities in the country.
The Executive Secretary, TETFund, Sonny Echono, while inaugurating the committee in Abuja on Monday, said the move was part of efforts to provide relevant infrastructure to aid research in the country.
According to him, it is universally accepted that innovative research and its commercialisation is clearly the driver of economic growth and prosperity in the contemporary world.
” It is imperative to make conscious efforts to not only develop our human capital but to also provide research infrastructure to support innovative Research and Development on a sustainable basis.
“It is indeed a key pre-requisite for accelerated national development and global competitiveness,” he said.
Echono also said the agency was deploying billions of naira to fund research programmes and projects with a view to deepen the institutionalisation of research and development to tackle national challenges.
” You will recall that the Fund has so far awarded 727 research grants to researchers from public tertiary institutions at the cost of over N18 billion under the National Research Fund (NRF) to undertake applied research in various academic disciplines.
” It was observed that some of these scholars who have benefited from the NRF grants have often requested that, to complete the execution of the research projects may require them to cross international borders.
“This is in a view to access certain facilities/equipment due to lack of requisite research facilities in their institutions.
“In some cases, these tend to affect the financial burden associated with the research projects, coupled with time expended for travelling,” Echono said.
Echono explained that TETFund had provided resources to support groundbreaking research in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that deficit in laboratory infrastructure has posed a major challenge to researchers.
” TETFund in 2020 through the Special Research Grant to address COVID-19 funded eight Research Projects at a total cost of N260,280,393.00 to support the Federal Government’s response to developing research.
“Again, the final report submitted by Nigerian Academy of Science indicates a glaring lack of facilities/equipment to conduct such study in some of the sites visited and a serious deficit in essential laboratory infrastructure needed to produce viable research outcomes,” he added.
He further revealed that the “Academic Staff Training and Development Intervention Programme had enabled the Fund to sponsor over 10,227 academic staff for foreign Masters and PhD programs at the cost of over N146 billion, out of which 1,017 were sponsored for bench work at the cost of over N5 billion.
He said: “however, upon return of the scholars to their various institutions, many were unable to share the knowledge acquired and replicate their experiences due largely to the research infrastructure deficit in their institutions.”
He, therefore, said the Fund was also working to ensure that such laboratories are available in the six geo-political zones in the country few years from now.
He listed the term of reference of the ad-hoc committee as: “Make appropriate recommendations for scoping and effective establishment of the laboratories including whether the laboratories should be Specialised Laboratories or Multipurpose Laboratories.
” Provide objective guidance on selection of the two beneficiary institutions to host the Laboratories taking cognisance of historical contexts, accessibility, surrounding environment including presence of industries, needs of the nearby Institutions and strategic areas of focus for maximum impact.
“Make recommendations regarding quality infrastructure in terms of laboratory building itself and other necessary facilities needed and equipment.”
He added that the committee must identify the equipment, facilities and infrastructure needed for each laboratory while also making any other recommendations that would ensure effective and efficient achievement of strategic objectives for the establishment of the laboratories.
Echono said the committee has former Vice Chancellor of University of Ibadan, Emeritus Professor Olufemi Bamiro, has chairperson, and had been given one month to submit its report.
In his acceptance speech, Bamiro, who commended Echono for setting up the committee, expressed the readiness of the team to deliver on the assigned task.
“This will surely go a long way in rejuvenating research and training in research in our nation state,” he said.
Other members of the committee are Prof. Ekanem Braide, Prof.Joseph Ahaneku, Prof. Suleiman Mustapha, Prof. Yusuf Saidu, Prof. Nasir Fagge, Prof. Abubakar Sambo, Prof. Ibrahim Katampe and Mallam Buhari Mikailu. (NAN)
