The Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has urged lecturers in the nation’s tertiary institutions to take the issue of research and development seriously.
Arch. Sonny Echono, who was speaking during a monitored interview with Arise TV on Friday, advised the lecturers not to rely only on their salaries but use their intellect to bring forth innovations that will earn them money.
“One of the young gentlemen that we sponsored for our innovative programme here in Abuja on our airport road, developed a device that caught the eye of some investors in Dubai. Just for them to access him…not to buy him out, he was paid $2.5m.
“You can imagine a lecturer who is battling how to get N400,000 or less salary in a month suddenly has that and he has not even lost the property right. So, we are happy and this is what we are encouraging our scholars, don’t look up to salaries, use your brain.
“That’s the most important asset anybody can look for. Conduct research, come out with new things, write books. These are the things we want you to be able to do and we have a whole intervention area in terms of book development and all that,” he said.
He noted that the agency has introduced various research-focused programmes in its quest to deepen research, development, and innovation in the nation’s academic community, adding that there have been a lot of success stories.
“Just last week, I got feedback from a gentleman who developed hearing aids technology, fitted for the African environment and he is receiving a lot of waves now. He is being acclaimed in the international scientific community.
“He was in New York a couple of months ago. He was also in Israel which is a hub of major research activities, again he made a presentation to the academy there and we are now trying to see how to take the next step in translating it into a product because there are companies in the United States that are interested,” he said.
Echono also disclosed that soon, handout system will be phased out in the nation’s tertiary institutions as the Fund was putting together indigenously authored and produced tertiary level textbooks.