Michael Uguru is a renowned Professor at the Department of Crop Science, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Enugu State.He was the Chairman, Local Organising Committee, 2010 Nigerian Universities Research and Development Fair ( NURESDEF). When STANLEY CHIBUIHEM AMALAHA met him, he proffered solution to how Nigeria's researches can be converted to local use. Nigeria is rich in both human and natural resources. Universities and research institutes are many. Space for research and researchable items abound but the conversion of primary products to finished and utilizable goods appears to be stalled. After many years of dependence on importation, scientists are beginning to realise that alien technologies are not very sustainable. If our Universities and Research Institutes are to remain autonomous and meet local needs, they must be able to count on genuine government interest and dynamic researchers. Unfortunately, both appear to be lean presently. The scarcity of these two crucial elements has hindered our technological growth. There is no doubt that many Nigerian scientists have published their research findings in world class (Impact factor) journals but regrettably, many have not been able to transform the research results into utilizable items for local use (living Research). This critical state of affairs is due to some major striking points.On how to achieve sustainable Living Research, the astute don said: 'The first is that in spite of all the grandiose declarations of the different regimes, our leaders rarely see research as a priority. Politicians and those in leadership positions take little interest in it; partly due to inadequate information and partly because they often have preconceived ideas on the matter. Many of them do not believe that researchers bring any immediate solution to everyday problems. As a result, research has no genuine place in the developmental plans of many politicians. For instance, in the Poverty Reduction Strategies of the Nigerian government, there is no mention of research at all. The central focus is on the use of imported items to create wealth. Unfortunately, many of these items lack adequate adaptation to the local environment and therefore do not provide sustainable service. KekeNAPEP is a product from Asia yet its fabrication and production could have been achieved locally if the Deans of Faculties of Engineering or Provosts of polytechnics were challenged. Such a challenge rarely comes! The idea of investing in research, perhaps, for as long as 10years, makes no sense at all to our leaders. The politicians have more 'pressing' problems to deal with, being ignorant of the fact that failure to invest on locally adapted research can lead to serious consequences. Perhaps the yawning gap between Nigeria and South Korea today may help to illuminate the vision of our leaders'. He lamented how South Korea has advanced more than Nigeria within a short period of time. 'In the late 1960s, South Korea and Nigeria were relatively comparable to each other based on broad statistical indicators that are often used to define a country's position within the global community. South Korea's gross domestic product (GDP) stood at nearly $US7.5 billion, 32nd in the world. Nigeria's GDP was $US 6.6 billion, 36th in the world. In terms of scientific publications in international peer ' reviewed journals and number of patents, neither South Korea nor Nigeria had any significant contribution to report. What a difference a few decades can make. In 2007, South Korea's GDP stood at $US 1.2 trillion, 14th in the world. Her scientists were responsible for 2.7 per cent of scientific publications worldwide (10th in the world and nearly twice the percentage of all the patents from Africa) and according to the World Intellectual Property Organization, in 2007, South Korea overtook France to become the fourth-ranked country for patent Co-operation Treaty fillings, behind the US, Japan and Germany. Nigeria, meanwhile, has remained stagnant in its ranking. Its GDP was $US295 billion in 2007, 38th in the world. The number of peer-reviewed scientific publications by Nigerian scientists was less than 0.12 per cent of the world total and the number of patents was still too small to show up as a percentage of the world total. This record shows that it is possible for a country to be left farther and farther behind and also for any country with committed and well focused leaders to catch up very quickly' , he said. Uguru further highlighted other factors that have contributed to Nigerian's backwardness in scientific research: 'The meagre size of the scientific community in Nigeria is another reason why science-driven development has failed to take root in the country. To worsen the matter, this scant size of scientist are ill-equipped and the government has found it extremely difficult to provide relevant working materials to the scientific community. Rather, many of the thorough 'bred scientists are driven into politics by poverty with serious implications on research and development. The proportion of professors occupying different political and administrative positions in Government houses and ministries can attest to this. This has caused an irreparable damage to research and consequently slowed down the countries efforts to develop. The third factor for the poor R&D results is centred on the researchers themselves. Only very few have shown meaningful initiative. Many have remained conventional in their choice of research fields, rarely deviating from the 'classic' areas handed over to them by their mentors. They take no account of globalization even though this is now an unavoidable reality, and one which brings with it, the need for sweeping changes when it comes to research options. Almost all Nigerian researchers are reluctant to stray from the beaten track. Working in a familiar terrain gives them greater sense of security in the management of their very limited resources. The policy of 'publish or perish' is also a monster on the path of converting research findings to tangible items. Since the promotion of researchers is tied to the number of publications, many scientists are usually in a hurry to finish, publish and forget about the research. These days, research is increasingly financed by private funds from the west. The Rocky feller Foundations, International foundation for Science, Rothamsted International African Fellows Programme and a host of other funding agencies put millions of dollars on the table to fund research with specific areas of interest as targets. 'He who pays the piper dictates the tune'. Therefore researchers have no choice but to redirect their programmes to fit into the wishes of the donor agencies. This is a slavery mentality because donors will remain perpetual masters of recipients. If we do not want to reach the stage where our national research bodies are stripped of all autonomy, a real act of political will is pertinent. As a starting point we need to see a declaration from our government, asserting that research and development are essential. There is urgent need for sincere commitment and genuine action, not on the pages of newspapers but in reality'. On the way forward, Prof Uguru highlighted; 'Three levels of action demand the immediate attention of the Nigeria government and the research community. First, political and scientific leaders in the country must take immediate steps to work together to design national policies for the development of science and technology based on our local technological and industrial needs. Second there must be a firm commitment on the part of the government to increase the level of funding for research and development to at least 1 per cent of GDP, as recommended by the African Union (AU) summit of January 2007. Without such a commitment, no science policy will be able to effectively build indigenous scientific and technological capacity, let alone transform that capacity into concrete action that helps to alleviate poverty and grow the economy. Third, it is essential that the science policy be fully integrated into the national development plan. This will ensure that the scientific and technological knowledge generated by research institutions is responsive to the socio-economic needs of the country. Reforming and strengthening Universities in general and scientific and training programmes in particular would represent a critical step forward in our country's effort to revitalize the scientific enterprise. Long term efforts to promote sustainable economic development will be seriously compromised unless there is a strong University system staffed by a vigorous and well-focused researchers', he said.
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