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FUNAAB begins Lagos-funded study on environmental profiling of land-filled sites

By Editor
29 April 2015   |   11:54 pm
Researchers at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State, have commenced a study on environmental profiling of land-filled sites in Lagos State. The N4m worth research is at the behest of the Lagos State government. At the head of the research team is the immediate past deputy vice chancellor in charge of academics,…

unaabResearchers at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State, have commenced a study on environmental profiling of land-filled sites in Lagos State. The N4m worth research is at the behest of the Lagos State government.

At the head of the research team is the immediate past deputy vice chancellor in charge of academics, Professor Toyin Arowolo, who is of the Department of Environmental Management and Toxicology, College of Environmental Resources Management (COLERM).

Director of Grants Management (DGM) at the institution, Professor Kolawole Adebayo, while speaking at the cheque presentation ceremony said the state government instituted the research grant to sponsor researches that fit into its developmental plan, as well as innovations and research ideas that would help the state to become a better place.

Adebayo, who disclosed that the grant was open to researchers from institutions in Lagos and beyond, added that the proposal submitted by the Arowolo-led team looked at places including dump sites and assessed the water, air and soil quality there with a view to determining how hazardious they were to the community and what could be done to remedy the situation.

The state government has released upfront, 50 per cent of the total worth of the proposal.

Commenting on the Team FUNAAB’s triumph in the grant award, which was also contested for by other researchers, the director said, “It re-enforces the drive to make our university a world-class university. World-class universities solve problems. Lagos State had a problem and we went there and said we can solve this problem and they saw it. So, it wasn’t like a man-know-man kind of thing. The Lagos State government saw that this was a problem that it had and these are researchers that could provide solutions.

“The award re-enforces our status as a university that addresses real life problems by finding solutions to them and in the long run, it sends a signal throughout the federation and beyond that, if there are problems in this country, there are brilliant scientists, particularly, in our university and other institutions of higher learning, who could provide solutions for them,” he added.

Professor Adebayo added that in line with the school’s tradition, postgraduate and undergraduate students would be carried along to gain experience in the conduct of research as well as writing of proposals and reports.

Governor Babatunde Fashola, in his remarks frowned at the trend, which sees most Nigerians look up to foreigners for life-changing innovations when the country has the human resources to achieve such feats.

He expressed the belief that Nigerian scientists have the capacity to come up with innovations that would positively impact on the rest of the world if well-funded.

The governor, therefore, called on other state governments to support indigenous researches in the nation’s ivory towers.

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