Business
Inability To Access Fund Worries Researchers
Billions of naira meant for research projects in tertiary and research institutions in the country are idle because of the inability for researchers
to come out with clear proposals.
The Vice Chancellor of Modibbo Adama University of Technology,
Yola, Prof. Bashir Usman, made this known at a two-day training workshop on writing research proposal organised by the university.
The workshop was held on Wednesday in collaboration with the National Office for
Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) in Yola.
“It was reported recently at the Education Trust Funds workshop in Kano that billions of naira are lying unaccessed because the proposal presented by our colleagues did not meet the required standard,” Bashir said.
Bashir acknowledged that most academic researchers in the universities nowadays faced difficulty in accessing fund for research due to their inability to write acceptable proposals.
“It is equally a fact that most funding agencies in the country and abroad turn down numerous research applications from our universities due to poor packaging of the proposal and other submissions from prospective applicants.
“ In this university we submitted about 25 research proposals worth N45 million but only nine proposals worth N8 million was sponsored and the rest were turned down due to poor packaging”, Bashir added.
He observed that the major problem facing researchers in the country was writing acceptable research proposal.
“Indeed there is need for uniformity in the format presentation of the first proposal.
Also there is a need for all universities and research institutions to come together and get a universal proposal format that can win research grant that is required,” Bashir said.
Also in his remarks, Dr Sobi Dede, a director with the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, said there was a lot of research fund lying idle but the art of preparing research proposal had not been fulfilled by the applicants.
“Most of our universities and researchers did not get a proper access into such funddue to poor proposal writing,” Dede said.
Business
NAFDAC Decries Circulation Of Prohibited Food Items In markets …….Orders Vendors’ Immediate Cessation Of Dealings With Products
Importers, market traders, and supermarket operators have therefore, been directed to immediately cease all dealings in these items and to notify their supply chain partners to halt transactions involving prohibited products.
The agency emphasized that failure to comply will attract strict enforcement measures, including seizure and destruction of goods, suspension or revocation of operational licences, and prosecution under relevant laws.
The statement said “The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raised an alarm over the growing incidence of smuggling, sale, and distribution of regulated food products such as pasta, noodles, sugar, and tomato paste currently found in markets across the country.
“These products are expressly listed on the Federal Government’s Customs Prohibition List and are not permitted for importation”.
NAFDAC also called on other government bodies, including the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service(NIS) Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Shippers Council, and the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), to collaborate in enforcing the ban on these unsafe products.
