By Muktar Tahir – The Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, Prof. Suleiman Bogoro has tasked Nigerian scholars to start giving priority to problem-solving and nation-fixing researches, in order for the country to overcome some of its present challenges.
Mr Bagoro gave the charge during a virtual National Open Science Symposium organised by TETFUND’S Research and Development Sub-Committee.
The symposium was tagged: “Towards an Open Science Action Plan for Nigeria.”
He said: “With Nigeria’s height, the country should be relying on its scholars to solve its problems. But at the moment, the reverse is the case.
“Scholars in our universities hardly bring up empirical ways of solving our common problems. I am not, however, entirely blaming them; the support given to them is not enough.
“Carrying out good research costs a lot of money, and the Nigerian government has over the year not doing enough in supporting them.
“But the narrative is changing. Last year, N7.5 billion was budgeted for research. This year it is N8.5. And we are working on establishing a national research endowment fund, because research is what will help us in getting out of our common problems. When I say research, I meant problem-solving research,” he said.
He added that, “At this stage, we ought to have scholars working towards finding solutions to our security problems, healthcare problems, food shortage, climate change, etc. Our common problem should be our ultimate priorities.”
In her presentation, a senior programme specialist at UNESCO, Dr Ana Persic, urged Nigeria to “learn from what developed nations are doing in using open research in solving day-to-day problems.”
She said: “With my interactions with Nigerian scholars, they have the intellectual capacity; all they need is the political will and support. Funding and mindsets are the key issues. The country should work on the two stumbling block, and it is good to go.”
