Gov. Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State has inaugurated the state Research and Development Council with an initial working grant of N200 million, saying that that research and development would define the lives of citizens in more ways than they could possibly perceive.
The council was constituted to generate ideas that would enrich government policies and offer solutions to some of the state’s major challenges.
The 10-member Council that the objective behind Government’s initiative was to establish a nucleus of research and development personnel who it feels have the capacity to develop something that could help the State and the country.
“As a Government we want to get people who we feel have the capacity and probably move from there to probably a board for the expression of interest in developing something that can help this State, that can help this country and we help you fund it. We think the community will be better for it”, the Governor said.
Noting that there is a disconnect between the society and the universities or what he termed “the town and the gown”, Governor Fashola expressed dismay that Nigeria has become a destination for mosquito nets which she does not manufacture whereas it is possible for her citizens to eradicate Malaria and mosquitoes in the country.
“I have been personally challenged about how, perhaps, we cannot eradicate Malaria and mosquitoes in this country when such was achieved during the construction of the Panama Canal. We are just a destination for mosquito nets that we do not manufacture and so many other things”, the Governor said.
Professor Akinyinka Omigbogun, a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynacology, University of Ibadan whio is also a Council member expressed pleasure in the idea of the Council describing it as a worthwhile venture.
According to him, “If there is anyway universities can make any impact in any society apart from teaching, it is research. This is what drives development”.
He said he accepted to participate “because I see the record set by the Governor in the development of the State and because he is a person to be trusted”, adding that one of the ways to consolidate the development going on in the State was through research.
Another member, Professor Oyelowo Oyewo of the Department of Public Law, University of Lagos, in his own remark, reiterated that there has been a disconnect between the Academia and the society adding that the society has, as a result, found itself thirsty in the midst of water.