Research, key to national economic development, says don

If Nigerian economy is to experience the expected boost that will improve the well-being of its citizens, there is an urgent need to place more emphasis on research, says Prof. Olukayode Amund, a renowned scientist and Vice Chancellor, Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin.

Prof. Amund, who stated this after his induction as a fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science in Abuja, lamented the abysmal pace at which Nigeria’s technology is developing.

According to him, lack of funding of scientific research in Nigeria is having a ripple effect on the country’s economic development.

He said: “Science is not as encouraged as it ought to be in Nigeria. Although government, as a policy, is favouring the study of science, as against humanities in schools, the economic climate is not aiding fulfilment of government’s aspiration in this regard. One thing is to have a policy, another thing is to make the policy work.”

Prof. Amund, who described research as the bedrock of development, also called for more synergy between the private sector and academia, to ensure that researches being conducted in the universities are translated to both industrial and agricultural revolution for the improvement of the nation’s economy.

The VC noted that most foreign multinationals, who do business in Nigeria, only see the country as a sales outlet and would rather sponsor research in their home countries than give such supports to local researchers.

“Local researchers have been tried in the past and they have disappointed them. It is on that premise that they are no longer relying on such researchers to handle productive-driven researches for them. That’s why our own locally based private sector firms must stand up to that challenge and fund university researches,” he declared.