TETFund spends N300 million on molecular labs- Bogoro
Doosuur Iwambe, Abuja
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund has revealed that about N300 million have been spent for the establishment of l at least, a quarter of the molecular labs in the country.
Speaking while receiving a contingent of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, NIPS, Kuru, Senior Executive Course 43, 2021, in Abuja, the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Prof Suleiman Bogoro noted that research is key for national development.
He disclosed that in the 2021 budget, which is awaiting approval, the agency will fund the establishment of more molecular labs and research on gene sequencing and phytogenic medicine, as well as vaccine research and production, as a key area of unraveling the lethal covid-19 pandemic.
“We discovered that those facilities are helpful for both research and clinical purposes,” he said, adding that the facilities will help sustain medical research in the country.
He also disclosed that funds were made available to some medical research institutes and colleges for the purpose of research.
While disclosing that its approvals for research grants will be doubled in 2021, from over 128 approvals made in 2020, Prof Bogoro, said the approvals will be announced as soon the Board of Trustees gives its nod.
He said, the qualified institutions will draw a maximum of N50 million research grants from the N7.5 billion National Research Fund, NRF.
Bogoro also noted that 90 per cent of lecturers in Nigerian universities currently have PhDs, stating that 9 years ago, only 40 per cent of university lecturers in the country had PhDs, and by 2015, over 60 per cent acquired PhDs.
He said more than 80 per cent of libraries in public tertiary institutions are TETFund-provided libraries.
He further commended Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi for its ingenuity in formulating a system of tracking cattles that have been rustled; as well as Redeemers University for its advanced research on gene sequencing; and Covenant University for being ranked among the best universities in the world.
On the NIPS, Bogoro said since the institute was carefully constituted in 1979, it has remained so with representation from the military, various ministries, and others, who are working on behalf of the country with a high sense of responsibility.
He added that some of the most cerebral academics and administrators in other sectors have served in NIPS, either at the directorate cadre or otherwise.
