6th December 2010 - National Universities Commission

2010 ATPS Annual Conference Holds in Egyptghe African Technology Policy Studies (ATPS) network and its partner, the Academy forInternational Development–Middle East (AID-ME), hosted the 2010 Annual Conferencetargeted at reviewing the status of Science, Technology and Innovations (STI) in Africa,identifying existing gaps and charting theway forward for achieving sustainabledevelopment in Africa through STI capacitybuilding and utilization. The Conference,with the theme The State of Science,Technology and Innovation in Africa:Implications for Achieving the MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs), was held from25 - 30 November, 2010, at the ConradHilton, Cairo, Egypt.Mr. J.N. BisongNUC RepresentativeThe Conference featured manypresentations, including a joint paper by Dr.N.B. Saliu and Mr. J.N. Bisong, both of theNational Universities Commission (NUC) onStrengthening Research and Development inNigerian Universities: A Pre-Requisite forthe Attainment of the MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs).The paper reviewed the worrisome state of socio-economic development in Africa and Asiathat gave rise to the MDGs, in the year 2000, highlighting the disconnect between the MDGsand the intellectually stimulating and problem-solving responsibilities of universities. Itstressed that to maintain their place, universities must, as citadels of learning, deliver on theirmandates of Research and Development (R&D).The paper attributed the inefficiency in the System to the absence of an enabling environmentfor research, inadequate staffing, a rapidly growing student population, unstable academiccalendar and weak institutional support. It advocated that for Nigeria, as a developing nation,to achieve the objectives of the MDGs, Nigerian universities had to be adequatelyempowered by their proprietors to the extent that they attained the World Class Universitystatus.The paper recommended, among others, that Government should put in place an appropriatescience, research and development policy that would guide research output in Nigeria whileuniversities should strengthen collaboration with industry and maintain productive researchcontacts with International Research Organizations and foreign universities with theestablishment of Research Management offices to ensure consistent and adequate funding forresearch in the system.Page 12