Don advocates TETFUND unbundling

The Next Einstein Forum Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Olatunbosun Sojinu, has called on Federal Government to unbundle Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) to cater for research and innovations in Nigeria.

Sojinu, who is a senior lecturer at Department of Chemistry, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, spoke while fielding questions from reporters during the exhibition of innovations as part of First Africa Science Week held at  Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

The NEF Africa Science Week, an initiative of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) in partnership with Robert Bosch Stiftung is the first coordinated science week across Africa.

The scientist noted there should be specific research body or institute responsible for giving out grants instead of being lumped up with TETFund.

Sojinu also lamented insufficient fund for research in Nigeria despite its importance, pointing out that there is a correlation between research output and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth.

He said “My recommendation is simple. There are so many models that are working. National Research Fund (NRF) is there in South Africa and it is working. Canada has three different research bodies for humanities, science and health.

“But in Nigeria, what we have is TETFund. That is where they lump up all the money and a whole lot is happening there. You have to Unbundle that body. Make it specific. Let there be one purely for humanities. They are going to manage the grants in that particular area of research and administer it judiciously. By that you can actually track it than everybody coming to one body to get funded. It is not working that way. So, I think we should have dedicated research bodies for granting specific research fund. Then, let there be competitive. Let it be opened and people compete for research grant.”

Speaking on exhibition of innovation, he explained that it was meant to showcase brilliant innovators, their products and “to encourage them and showcase them to the world and also bring in entrepreneurs and industrialists to assist them.”

One of the exhibitors, Sanni Azeez, who showcased a device called Automatic Waterlevel Controller, identified fund as his major challenge and therefore called on government to come to his aid on funding and marketing of his product.

Azeez, a graduate of Physics and Electronics, Federal University of Technology, Akure, said: “The device I made is Automatic Waterlevel Controller. What it does is to monitor the level of water in the reservoir or water tank, and when it is low, it automatically switches on the pumping machine and when it is full, it automatically switches off the machine.”

In his welcome address, the Director Youth Development Centre, OOPL, Dr Damian Oyibo, who also decried insufficient funding for science and research, called on government and relevant stakeholders  to invest more in science.

“Nothing is beyond science. Many things we never thought will happen had happened through science,” Oyibo said.