The Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions (ASURI) and several other concerned Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari, to assent to the National Research and Innovation Council (NRIC) bill as a parting gift for the nation.
ASURI leader Prof Theophilus Ndubuaku, addressing reporters in Abuja, maintained that the expected socioeconomic development will continue to elude Nigeria until adequate attention is given to research and development in Nigeria.
He stressed that research is the only way to unlock economic development, create employment, wealth, and put an end to borrowing which could lead to poverty in perpetuity.
Prof Ndubuaku maintained that NRIC is the vital funding component of the Federal Government-approved National Policy on Science, Technology and Innovation (NPSTI), which was initiated in the 1960s as a much-needed institutionalised funding mechanism for research.
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He recalled that in January 2016, barely six months after assuming office, President Buhari, in his capacity as the statutory Chairman of NRIC, expressed the hope that with NRIC, Nigeria would soon start producing Laureates.
He said: “The Presidency, through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, advised ASURI to re-introduce and re-present the bill, which was passed twice by the 8th National Assembly and twice denied Presidential Assent, to the 9th National Assembly while monitoring the stages that it passes through and informs the SGF when it is finalised and is awaiting Presidential Assent.
”The Bill, which has since been passed by the Senate, is presently in the House of Representatives, awaiting concurrence.”
ASURI leader said that research being the bedrock of scientific and technological development should be given the right place in national discussions, noting that developed nations embrace and fund research adequately.
He added: “It is also worthy of note that neglect of research by successive administrations in Nigeria is responsible for the comatose state of the nation’s mandate research and development institutes and the present socio-economic woes such as massive unemployment, leading to insurgency, kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery and other numerous overwhelming vices.”