By Muktar Tahir – The Research and Development Standing Committee of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, has said that Nigeria can become a pacesetter in the pharmaceutical sub-sector of medicine if research and development are institutionalised.
This was the summation of the lead speaker, Dr. Obi Peter Adigwe, at the latest session of TETFUND’s virtual Global Engagement Series, themed: ‘Institutionalisation of R&D in Nigeria’s Pharmaceuticals Sub-sector’.
According to Mr Adigwe, “if those in the field had the necessary support and environment, the narrative would not have been what it is at the moment. The expertise is there; only the environment is impeding it.”
He said: “With what the world faced with the outbreak of COVID-19, nations have been looking inward, and Nigeria should not be different. If we had harnessed our potential, we wouldn’t have been jostling for vaccine now.”
He commended the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in boosting the development of drugs, biological products, and pharmaceutical raw materials from indigenous resources in Nigeria.
Earlier in his remark, the Executive Secretary of TETFUND, Prof. Elias Bagoro, reiterated TETFUND’s readiness in funding problem-solving researches, noting that “medicine is fundamental as far as human existence and survival is concerned, therefore supporting it is a must.”
He said, “funding has been the main problem, but the federal government is now very committed; the baton is shifting to our researchers.”
