By Raphael Jov
The Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Prof. Suleiman Bogoro, has described as low, Research and Development infrastructure and productivity in Nigeria, which stands at 0.02 per cent.
Prof. Bogoro said this in Abuja on Thursday while inaugurating an Ad-hoc Committee on Research and Development, which is charged with the responsibility of deepening the research and development mandate of TETFund.
The executive secretary, who also described the figure as very disturbing and in need of urgent improvement, said the absence of a national platform for the regulation and strengthening of research and development was responsible for the 0.02 per cent.
He said that in other climes, the level of research and development was between three per cent and five per cent and in some cases 10 per cent.
Prof. Bogoro insisted that investment in research and development as well as human capital was central for economic success of any country.
He noted that the ad-hoc committee would help to provide strategic leadership internally to the process of implementing TETFund research and development mandate among the staff of the Fund.
According to him, the ad-hoc committee would be chaired by President, Nigerian Institute of Animal Science, Prof. Placid Njoku, with Mr Tope Toogun, of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, serving as the co- Chairman, while Prof. Ibrahim Katampe, the Director for Innovation and Technology Incubation at the Centre of Excellence in Emerging Technologies, Central State University, U.S.A is the Vice Chairman.
In his acceptance speech, Prof. Placid decried that research and development had not been given the much needed attention in Nigeria.
He therefore said the ad-hoc committee would work closely with the Ministry of Science and Technology to leverage with the National Assembly, to have the law establishing a Research and Development Foundation instituted.
The Co-chair, Mr Toogun, said in a brief remark that the committee would work with the in-coming 9th Assembly to repackage and reposition the draft bill on the National Research and Development Council for sustainability.
