PZ Cussons, NOTAP seal pact on research in chemical science, technology

IN furtherance of its Corporate Social Responsibility Programme, PZ Cussons Nigeria PLC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) to support research in chemical science and Technology.

Under the terms of the MoU, PZ Cussons has agreed to fund the upgrade of the chemical laboratories in two Nigerian Universities and one Research Institute while NOTAP will co-ordinate the project.

The benefitting institutions are University of Calabar, Modibo Adama University of Technology, Yola and the National Research Institute for Chemical Technology, Zaria. According to a statement from the PZ Cussons, its intervention is borne out of its concern to fill the infrastructural gap in those institutions.

“The intervention is to assist the institutions acquire and install state-of-the-art equipment to facilitate the conduct of robust research activities that will produce high calibre R&D personnel. In his address at the occasion, the Director General, NOTAP, Dr Umar Bindir, advised that Nigeria can only develop if the bulk of research findings and papers lying in our research centres are put to use in solving our problems.

According to him it is through such collaborations that Nigeria will be able to ‘transform knowledge into socio economic solutions and assets that will bring about sustained national development.’

Under the partnership agreement, PZ Cussons funding will focus on R&D activities, development of Ph. D. holders that will be part of the institutions’ scholarship pool and forging viable research projects for students. He commended PZ Cussons for blazing the trail and called on other companies to emulate them.

Professor Kyari Mohammed

In his response on behalf of the beneficiaries, the Vice Chancellor, Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, Professor Kyari Mohammed expressed his happiness with industry/academia collaboration. He assured the company that the resources to be expended on the upgrade will be judiciously applied and put to utmost use.

It could be recalled that PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc has been in the business of household goods manufacturing and at the forefront of promoting scholarship in chemical sciences. The company is the sponsor of the yearly PZ Cussons Chemistry Challenge that seeks to promote learning of Chemistry in secondary schools.