Education Minister, Prof. Tahir Mamman has identified industry-linked research in the country’s Institutions of higher learning as key to National Development.
Director Press & Public Relations of the Ministry, Ben Bem Goong disclosed this in a statement issued on Monday, September 18, 2023
Goong said the Minister made the observation in his office in Abuja while receiving briefings from Chief Executives of Parastatals and Agencies under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Education.
According to Prof. Tahir, “the Federal Government is determined to support Research linked to the industry so as to synchronize research and the industrial sector in order to accelerate National Development”.
The Minister called on members of the academic community to see research beyond promotion and career advancement, adding that overall National Development must take priority over any other considerations.
Prof. Tahir Mamman promised to do everything humanly possible to ensure that industry-based research was encouraged to accelerate National Development.
On his part, Minister of State for Education Dr. Yusuf Tanko Sununu expressed the government’s determination to support the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) in its efforts to promote industry-based research, adding that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will do everything humanly possible to clear any obstacle on the way of research funding.
Earlier in his briefing, Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), Arc Sunny Echono told the Ministers that the Fund had in the last two years sponsored over 65, 000 staff in Tertiary Institutions to National and International conferences, workshops, and training Programmes.
The Executive Secretary briefed the Ministers on critical investments being made by the Fund on high-impact projects, disaster recovery & research grants.
Echono further informed the Ministers that investment in research in varsities led to the Production and Public presentations of over 60 books in 2022, adding that more books would be published at designated publishing houses across the six geopolitical zones in the coming years.
