Bogoro

It is time FG
pegged research funding at $1bn –Bogoro 

By
Uji Abdullahi Iliyasu

Abuja

The Executive Secretary of Tertiary
Education Trust Fund  (TETFund),
Professor Suleiman Elias Bogoro Thursday on the occasion of the inauguration of
TETFund’s standing committee on Research and Development (R&D) in Abuja
said it was time the federal government raised research and development budget
for tertiary institutions across the country, therefore                         

The TETFund boss particularly
appealed to the federal government to raise its yearly funding for Research and
Development (R&D) to $1 billion.

Bogoro hailed President Muhammadu
Buhari for his recent increase of the research grant from N5 bn to N7.5 bn.

Bogoro said massive investment in
research would bring about the much-needed development in the country, even as
he said it was time for the promulgation of a law that would bring into action
what he referred to as the “National R&D Foundation (NRDF)” to deepen
research in the country.

”To galvanise our vision towards
making R&D the ace and game changer in our national development agenda, the
need for an appropriate law to support the establishment of a National R&D
Foundation (NRDF) cannot be overstated.

“We need a robust institutional
framework and arrangement for the NRDF. I am recommending a minimum annual
budgetary threshold of One billion dollars as the funding portfolio for this
foundation.

“When we consider the inevitable
benefits of R&D and the socio-economic challenges in Nigeria, this amount
begins to look like a drop of water in the ocean-population of 200 million
people in 2020 and projected to become double in 10 years for now.”

Bogoro, who said the TETFund’s
R&D standing committee was expected to come up with its own recommendation
on the required amount that is suitable for efficient research activities in
the country, called for a robust collaboration between researchers and the
private sector to bring about all-round development in the country.

“It is envisaged that the private
sector of the economy should pick the gauntlet to steamroll the lofty
initiative by taking ownership of it.”

Bogoro lauded the recent performance
of Nigerian universities in the world’s ranking, saying TETFund intervention
projects have continued to encourage such feats.

Minister of Education, Malam Adamu
Adamu, represented by the Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka
Nwajiuba, while inaugurating the committee, called on committee members to put
their best to the work he referred to as “national assignment”.

Adamu said that continued investment
in research would herald a rebirth of Nigeria. “Nigeria voted us into power
predicated on our being able to transform our national aspirations and make
them a national achievement.

“It is in recognition of this
direction that Bogoro presented his vision of a research-driven nation and how
to finance that ambition through the Board of Trustees (BOT).

 “To a large extent, Nigeria’s future depends
on you. You have been summoned to a national service that is not available to
the rest of the 200 million population.

“It is a national calling that
requires almost all of you,” he said.

Chairman, House Committee on
Tertiary Education and Services, Hon. Aminu Suleiman, said the work of the
committee would open a vista of opportunities to tackle various developmental
challenges confronting the country.

Suleiman, who was represented by
Hon. Ikenna Elezieanya, lamented the way Nigeria has shown less concern to
research, saying that many developed countries invested in research and
development and thus helped to improve on their economy.

“Research is the gateway of
innovation. It is said that while countries like the USA, Korea, and the like
have been investing in research and development, we seem to show less concern.”
He thus encouraged beneficiaries to take good advantage of the initiative to
solve problems for the betterment of the country.

In his response, the chairman of the
over 160-member TETFund’s R & D Committee, Professor Njidda M. Gadzama,
said the epoch-making event will transform the socio-economic sector by
ensuring the robust promotion of cutting-edge innovations.

“We promise to carry out our
assignment with commitment and diligence and this will result in the R & D
Culture and R&D Foundation to drive industrialization of the country,” he
said. The standing committee whose membership was drawn from the academic,
industry, and private sector, has the President of the Manufacturers
Association of Nigeria, MAN, Mansur Ahmed, as one of the three vice presidents,
among other renowned academics and industrialists.