Covid-19: Turning challenges into opportunities

NIGERIA’s Covid-19 response has put in bold relief the need to develop and utilise the research capacities of Nigerians to address problems. So far, the response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been to import testing kits and equipment to manage the unfolding crisis. Although there have been records of isolated individual development of equipment such as ventilators and other innovations in addressing the pandemic, there has been no visible, remarkable connection with the country’s research institutions.

While in many countries the search for a solution has demonstrated the organic relations between public and private research institutions and governmental actions to arrest the pandemic, these institutions have been less visible in Nigeria. For instance, Oxford University has commenced human trials for the vaccine against Covid-19. A number of laboratories in universities across the globe have developed and improved a number of testing kits for Covid-19 even as they tried to understand the nature of the virus. The absence of similar research and development initiatives from universities and research institutions, with the possible exception of the Federal University of Jigawa which has commenced the clinical trial of a plant-based Covid-19 medicine, marks the response to the pandemic in Nigeria. This Covid-19 experience compels attention to the development of research potentials in medicine, social sciences and related fields. Addressing Covid-19 and other challenges must go beyond brick and mortar approaches such as building isolation and testing centres; there must be a revamping of the workings of Nigeria’s health system and research infrastructure.

The government continues to invest resources in the country’s educational and research institutions without regard to the use of the output of such institutions. There are lots of research activities in these institutions, but the findings are not utilised.  The universities are filled with shelved theses and dissertations, reports and documents that are not translated into use. This situation must not continue. As there are increasing pressures for government funding of these institutions, there must be a corresponding demand on them to solve collective problems. They are centres of innovation and problem solving. But they cannot deliver on these scores if they are not connected to the government and the private sector for problem solving and development. Their research and innovation must be harnessed by government and industry.

Today, both the government and industry rely largely on foreign sources to solve problems. Covid-19 has demonstrated that each country must learn to take care of itself even as it collaborates internationally. The state governments have diverse challenges and run universities and research institutions. They should also invest in research and development. They should reach out to these institutions to address problems. They do not have to wait for the Federal Government.  Admittedly, research involves substantial investment and there may be problems of accountability. But these can be addressed by proper audit and accounting structures. Clearly defined processes of moving research from inception to utilisation of findings must become the norm. The National Universities Commission (NUC), the Ministry Of Education and the industrial sector must collaborate to ensure that this happens.

With few exceptions, the wealthy have neglected local research and innovation institutions because they believe that they can access services and facilities in foreign lands. Medical tourism has been the rule. Those in government have acted as if the effective working of the country’s institutions did not matter since they could meet their needs for health and education abroad. This tendency evolved from the taste for expensive foreign goods as a mark of class, as if excellent and quality goods and services cannot be produced here in Nigeria. Covid-19 has simply made medical tourism impossible while it lasts. It has become clear that it is in the interest of both the poor and the wealthy to establish systems that work in health, education and research as backbones of development in Nigeria.

Although wealthy individuals and companies have invested in research, they are reputed more for funding sports and entertainment activities. It is time for them to pay more attention to scientific research and innovation. They must invest their resources in Nigerian research and development institutions. That is how advanced countries have development legacy institutions. The Nigerian government and private sector organisations must transform the challenge of Covid-19 into an opportunity to build and utilise capacity for research and development in diverse fields.

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