TETFund Strengthens Commitment To Problem-solving Research

Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) said it has strengthened its commitment to research that would bring solutions to the economic, social, political, security and other problems in Nigeria and beyond.

TETFund Executive Secretary, Prof. Suleiman Bogoro, stated this in Abuja while receiving the Education Correspondents Association of Nigeria’s (ECAN) Award of Excellence for his uncommon passion for Research and Development (R&D) and other massive achievements so far recorded as TETFund boss.

Prof. Bogoro said Nigeria can overcome its challenges through the full embrace of research and development. “One of the best ways to enhance our competitiveness is through prioritization of knowledge, and if there is any element of knowledge that gets to the nerve centre of the knowledge enterprise, it is research.

“In Nigeria, people just jokingly referred to universities as intellectual enclaves with no relevance of application of knowledge to solve problems of nation or even the local community. I hate to hear that.

“It’s for that reason, I said we must proceed to do problem-solving research and it’s only through research and development. A preacher said recently that Africa is sitting on the largest mineral deposits in the world yet the headquarters of poverty. It means there’s something wrong. That is why I thought of undertaking research for value addition that is problem-solving,” Bogoro said.

He commended ECAN for being a worthy partner in drumming support for the educational development of the country.

“You have been a very good partner to TETFund. You have kept faith even when we might not have met all your expectations. But have also availed us the wisdom of advice on areas that we could improve on,” Bogoro said.

He expressed appreciation to ECAN for finding him worthy of the award even as he dedicated it to all TETFund’s staff for their support.

Earlier, the Chairman of ECAN, Chuks Ukwuatu, said the Award of Excellence was initiated by the Association 15 years ago to single out Chief Executives in the education sector that have performed greatly.

Ukwuatu said TETFund under Bogoro has witnessed massive infrastructural development in tertiary institutions, academic training, paradigm shift that has brought about institutionalisation of research and development, among others.

While saying the award is to encourage Bogoro to do more, the ECAN Chairman said his Association has thrown weight behind the calls for the renewal of the TETFund’s boss appointment in 2022, saying one good term deserves another.