The Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Prof. Suleiman Bogoro, has called for more investments in research in the country’s universities.
Bogoro made the call while delivering a lecture marking the 12th Founder’s Day and 9th Convocation ceremonies of Afe Babalola University (ABUAD) in Ado-Ekiti on Saturday.
He spoke on: “University As Catalyst for Regional Economic Development,”.
Bogoro said investment in research was the best way to actualise radical development in the nation.
According to him, no country can develop or make headway in innovation without adequate investment and exploration in research.
Bogoro advised university administrators to place high premium on research to make the desired difference.
“Endowment, research foundations are the DNA of Ivory towers over time.
“Sadly we are treating universities as if they are political enclaves, rather than enclaves or platform for deepening knowledge, creating knowledge and innovation.
“Sometimes, you see square pegs not being placed in square holes, even within the university system and these are areas that bother us.
“If you do not have somebody that believes, promotes, encourages and supports problem-solving research presiding over a university, then that university is destroyed,” he said.
The TETFund boss said that the organisation had been striving to make Nigerian universities gain recognition globally.
He said TETFund had signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with foreign universities as a way of promoting Nigerian universities to attain global reckoning.
“As part of the new paradigm at TETFund, we are committed to the internationalisation of our tertiary institutions, especially our universities.
“We are conversant with the ranking indices, metrics and parameters of universities globally.
“We are equally aware of the present status and positions of our universities on the parametric tables of global ranking of universities.
“TETfund under my leadership is committed to ensuring improvement and we are indeed changing the narratives in our universities,” Bogoro said.
He said the improved ranking status of University of Lagos and University of Ibadan globally had been linked to the new research and development vigour of TETFund and prioritisation of content development in universities.