President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the sum of N8.5 billion for the conduct of ground-breaking research in medicine and other areas in 2021, under the National Research Fund, NRF, scheme funded by the Tertiary Education Trust, TETFund.
Executive Secretary of TETFund, Professor Suleiman Bogoro, disclosed this in Abuja at a 3-Day Workshop for Directors of Research and Development of public universities in Nigeria.
Bogoro said TETFund made a case to the board of trustees to increase the NRF research grants, from the initial N3 billion it got between 2016 and 2019.
The TETFund boss said the fund is intending to put money at the Nigerian Medical Research Institute, NMIR, to resuscitate vaccine production.
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Bogoro however decried the failure of research institutes to have the appetite to establish a good relationship with universities to promote research and development, stating that universities are also guilty of disregarding them.
He stressed the need for collaboration between the universities and research institutes to know what the institutes are doing and offer assistance where necessary.
Editor: Ena Agbanoma
