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NRIC Bill, Beginning Of Nigeria’s Development Revolution, Says Senator Boroffice

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The passage of the National Research and Innovation Council (NRIC) Bill 2018 has been described as the beginning of Nigeria’s development revolution.

Speaking while receiving members of the Organising Committee of the forthcoming Roundtable on Research Funding in his office at the National Assembly in Abuja, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology, Senator (Professor) Robert Ajayi Boroffice, said with the passage of the NRIC Bill, Nigeria had signaled its readiness to take a giant leap on its journey towards industrial development.

He told his visitors that for any nation to develop industrially and stop relying on imports for virtually everything, she must pay serious attention to the funding of research and development.

Senator Boroffice said as a scientist in the legislative arm of government, his desire was to see an end to the government paying lip service to encouragement of research and innovations, adding that no nation ever develop like that.

He added that the passage of the bill was possible without much stress because, according to him, there were many like-minds in both chambers of the National Assembly who saw it as a necessary milestone for the nation’s economic, scientific and industrial development.

He said this explained why, apart from the bill being sponsored by the chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator David Umaru, it was co-sponsored by 60 other senators.

L-R: Mr Toye Fawole; Dr. Theophilous Ndubuaku; Senator Robert Ajayi Boroffice; and Pastor Bola Oregbemi during committee on Roundtable on Research Funding courtsey visit to Boroffice in his office.

“Without any doubt,” Senator Boroffice said, “this bill is the beginning of Nigeria’s development revolution.”

Speaking earlier, the secretary general of the Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions (ASURI), Dr. Theophilus Ndubuaku, who led the delegation, noted the altruistic contributions and response of the present government, especially the National Assembly, to the strident calls of Nigerians for a legislative instrument for research funding.

He said that when the history of the nation’s industrial development would be written, the activities of the Eighth Assembly would be written in gold.

Dr. Ndubuaku said that the passage of the bill was not the end of the journey but its starting point, adding that apart from the needed presidential assent to the bill, its implementation would require the vigilance of all the stakeholders, which he said included the law makers.

Also speaking during the courtesy visit, the president of Co-Heritage Hunters Nigeria, Pastor Bola Oregbemi, said it was gratifying to see Nigeria having a legislative instrument for research funding at last, 52 years after the idea of developing an institutional framework was first mooted in 1966 and after several modifications.

He said the forthcoming two-day Roundtable on Research Funding taking place on April 17 and 18 at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, was being planned as an appreciation event to give honour unto whom it is due and to mobilise the generality of Nigerians in support of mandate research.

Pastor Oregbemi added that the event which, according to him, was being organized by Co-Heritage Hunters Nigeria and TF & Associates, incollaboration withASURI, representing the interests of researchers in mandate research institutes, agencies and allied colleges in Nigeria, would feature the secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, as the special guest of honour while the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Alhaji Muhammadu Musa Bello, and the Senate minority whip, Senator Philip Aduda, as host and co-host respectively.

According to him, Professor Oye Ibidapo-Obe, a former vice-chancellor of the University of Lagos and former president of the Nigeria Academy of Science, is billed to be the main speaker for the event, which he said would also feature members of the Diplomatic Corps, executive directors of the mandate research institutes, Director-Generals of federal agencies, captains of industry, opinion leaders and the civil society, among others.

Also speaking during the visit, another member of the Planning Committee and managing consultant of TF & Associates, Mr. Toye Fawole, said the event, with the theme, “Research Our Hope,” which would be attended by over 1,000 researchers, would feature over 100 research institutes showcasing their activities and findings in an exhibition alongside other corporate organisations both from the public and private sectors.

He said the support of Senator Boroffice and his colleagues in the National Assembly was vital to the success of the roundtable.

A former university teacher charged with the responsibilities of capacity building in science and technology at the tertiary level of education and conducting research and technology, Senator Boroffice was coordinating director of science in the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) for eight years before becoming the pioneer director general of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) from 1999 – 2007.

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