ASURI urges FG to establish national research and innovation council

Joy Obakeye

The Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions (ASURI), has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to establish the National Research and Innovation Council (NRIC) which was initiated since 1966.

In a statement signed by the Secretary-General of ASURI, Dr Theophilus Ndubuaku said that “The current status of the NRIC (Establishment) Bill, 2019 is that it was passed by the National Assembly in 2018, but was returned back by Mr President, citing some grey areas.”

“We would like you to note that the NRIC Bill is a component of the agreement reached by the federal government /Organised labour 16-Man Technical Committee on Minimum Wage and Palliatives.”

The union which represents the interests of researchers in Federal Research and Development Institutions (RDIs), Colleges of Agriculture and Forestry, Allied Institutions and Centres, said the committee had made recommendations for the establishment of a tax fund.

“The Committee recommended, in Section 1.9.30 of the report, that the “Establishment of a Tax Fund for Adequate and Consistent Funding of Research Institutes, Colleges of Agriculture and Forestry and Allied Institutions.

“The the palliative committee deliberated extensively on the socio-economic status and concluded that the neglect of research and Science and Technology (S&T) by successive Nigerian governments since independence is the underlying reason for the challenges of insecurity and other national malaise which are currently threatening to dismember the fabric of the Nigerian nation thereby pushing the nation to the brink of a failed state.”

He further explained that “It is noteworthy that the National Policy on Science and Technology (NPST) was initiated since 1966 and has been revised not less than 13 times since then without the political will to implement it until January 7, 2016, when President Buhari inaugurated the NRIC which is the main impetus of the NPST.

To complement the inauguration by the President, 50 Senators co-sponsored the NRIC Bill, which is almost a verbatim adaptation of the 2012 version of the NPC provides the enabling statute for the Council.”

“ASURI is very explicitly conscious of the enormous economic potentials of Nigeria. We assert the incontestable fact that Nigeria is either second to none or maybe to the USA in terms of diversity, quantity and quality of human and natural resources.”

“Though Nigeria has been designated as the current poverty capital of the world, ASURI remains confident that establishing the NRIC is the key to making our nation great again.

Ndubuaku stressed that Nigeria unbelievably operates close to zero budgetary allocation to research. In most of the over 150 Nigerian Research and Development Institutions (RDIs) and centres, research and training activities are self-funded by researchers because they must acquire higher degrees and produce research publications before they can be promoted at every stage of their careers.

Consequently, Nigerian career researchers are the poorest cadre of public servants as they must devote over half of their salaries for research if they must advance in their profession.”