Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions (ASURI) has said that Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world because of years of neglect of research and development.
It argued that despite the critical roles research institutes play in exploring new knowledge and improving on existing scenarios towards enhancing institutional and national development, the federal government is not allocating adequate funds to research.
ASURI secretary-general, Prof Theophilus Ndubuaku stated this yesterday in Abuja at a joint press conference with Civil Society Coalition for Research Funding and Strategies for National Transformation.
He lamented that despite the importance, positive impact and benefits of research institutes, funds allocated for them in the country has been inadequate.
Ndubuaku explained that unlike universities, research institutes have a reach to the grassroots. He listed its members with substations in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory to include the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI), National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) among others.
The secretary general called for synergy between research institutes and universities, adding that “In other climes, university lecturers go to research institutions to do their sabbatical. Because this is where you have the facilities. If you want to conduct research that covers the whole country, and you are from the university, how would you do it if you don’t go through NBTI, Raw Materials? If you want to reach out to the grassroots, you go through research institutes.
“But here, it is cat and mouse. The university lecturers so hate the research officers that when the National Assembly said ‘we want to review the TETFund Act and give some money to research institutes’, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) threatened me”.
He underscored the role of research to national development, even as he called on the National Assembly to pass the National Research and Innovation Council Bill currently before it.
He also lamented the exclusion of Colleges of Agriculture in the country among beneficiary institutions of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
“You have polytechnics in this country that award HND. They are covered by TETFund. But you have Colleges of Agriculture that also offer HND courses. They are not under TETFund. Just because they are not under the Ministry of Education.
“We got the Science and Technology policy which made provision for the National Research and Innovation Council and National Research Fund. It has been on the drawing board since the 60’s. And has been reviewed 12 times without implementing the major thing which is the research council to coordinate and fund research,” he said.
The association also gave commendation to the Federal Institute for Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO) for positive developments.
Ndubuaku said that upon assumption of office, the director general of FIIRO, Dr Jummai Tutuwa, has undertaken diverse but positive initiatives ranging from her accomplishments to those currently in progress.
“It is worthy of note that the DG fought doggedly and ensured that the Act establishing FIIRO was passed into law in less than a year of implementing its process from the National Assembly to the final assent by Mr President,” he said.
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