Nigeria will reap from Research & Development soon – TETFund committee

By Muktar Tahir – Nigeria’s recent efforts towards boosting and institutionalizing research and development in its various sectors will soon have “a resounding effect on her economy”, the Research and Development Standing Committee, RDSC, of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, has said.

The position of the committee was made known Tuesday by its chairman, Prof. N. M. Gadzama during the eighth edition of its Paradigm Shift engagements.

Mr Gadzama said developed countries became developed by embracing applied research and innovation, therefore developing countries like Nigeria have no any excuse not to emulate them.

He said Nigeria, “went to sleep as far as R&D is concerned; that is why things are the ways they are at the moment. But we are waking up now. We have suddenly realized that we are living in a knowledge-driven world.

“What TETFUND is doing is the ultimate way to go, and the country is already reaping from it. In the next few years, if we do not let our guards down and we invest heavily in R&D, given our resources, we will become one the best economies in the world.”

Corroborating, the lead speaker of the session, Prof. Ali Garba from Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi noted that “industrialization is Nigeria’s solution to unemployment.”

In his paper titled: ‘Institutionalization of R&D in Industrialization, Manufacturing, Trade, Investment and Economy’, Mr Garba explained that “innovative and solution-driven researches through R&D that would involve the government, academia and the industry would not only close the job gap but also unlock the knowledge capital, drive industrialization, trade, manufacturing and investment into transforming Nigeria’s economy in the face of the world”.