Professor Suleiman Bogoro, executive secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), said President Muhammadu Buhari has approved 8.5 billion naira for groundbreaking research in medicine and other fields under the National’s program. Research Fund (NRF).
Bogoro made the revelation during a three-day workshop for directors of research and development of public universities in Nigeria on Wednesday in Abuja.
“With your support, I pleaded with the board to increase NRF research grants.
“Initially, we had seed capital of 3 billion naira, which ran out and 1 billion naira was added between 2016 and 2019.
“When I got there I decided to revolutionize it and I said it wasn’t a matter of seed money, it was annual money and that’s why I pleaded for 5 billion naira in 2019 alone and in 2020 we increased it to n7.5 billion.
“This year the president approved another N7.5 billion but, guess what, with an additional N 1 billion that we intend to use for groundbreaking research around medicine, even in the area of medicine. COVID-19 challenge, ”he said.
Bogoro said part of the plans were to release some money to the Nigerian Institute for Medical Research (NMIR) to jumpstart its vaccine production.
He revealed that a meeting had been scheduled with the Director General of NMIR, Professor Babatunde Salako, alongside medical professors from some universities across the country in this regard.
He urged academics not to take pleasure in headlines but to engage in problem-solving research that would change the narrative for the good of the nation.
He further called on research institutes to establish good working relationships with universities to improve research and development, stressing the need for collaboration for better results.
According to him, collaboration between universities and research institutes is necessary in order to offer assistance if needed.
Earlier in his remarks, TETFund’s director of research and development, Dr Salisu Bakare, said it was important for universities to live up to the problem-solving mandate.
He reaffirmed the need for Nigeria to move to a knowledge-based economy, stressing that the TETFund Center of Excellence in Research and Development, established for this purpose, would continue to work to achieve its mandate.
Bakare said that in order to fulfill the mandate, the fund had established centers of excellence at several universities.
He added that he had increased the National Research Fund and formed a committee that was currently working on a bill for the establishment of the National Research and Development Foundation.
He urged the institutions participating in the workshop to work towards improving national development. (NAN)
