A former executive secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Professor Suleiman Elias Bogoro has called on universities and other tertiary institutions in the country to harp on research and community services.
Speaking at the 11thConvocation Lecture of the Nile University, Abuja, on the title, ‘Reasserting the Pivotal University Roles of Research and Community Service for National Development,’ he stressed the need for universities to emerge as think tanks for national development.
According to Bogoro, “It is very important that the ultimate objectives for both Theoretical and Applied Research are carried out to conclusion.
“This being why the justification for any research enterprise is clearly expressed in all research proposals.”
He added that there must always be justified anticipated deliverables that must be problem-solving, pointing out that it took the injection of science and innovation for Malaysia to have imported the oil palm and had over the years turned its innumerable Value Chain into goldmine.
Equally important, he observed was the need for universities cum industry partnership through Research, like the TETFund Research and Development Standing Committee (RDSC) where academic and industry were remarkably blended.
He suggested the need for universities to carry out services around their areas in order for them to be relevant in both local and larger contexts.
He hailed the efforts of President Bola Tinubu for paying four months out of the eight months of withheld salaries owed to lecturers in the public universities due to strikes and commended the approval of a Student Loan Scheme aimed at relieving students of indigent parents.
With the recently increased annual budgetary allocation for the education sector, in addition to the increased Education Tax from 2,50 to 3.00 per cent through TETFund, he suggested that more funds be deployed to address non-budgetary funding intervention priorities for public tertiary institutions, being the justification for the establishment of TETFund ab-initio.
