TETFund spends N300m on molecular labs

Bogoro, who noted that the approvals would be announced as soon as the Board of Trustees gives its nod also disclosed that qualified institutions will draw a maximum of N50m research grants from the N7.5bn National Research Fund.

Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund, (TETFund), Suleiman Elias Bogoro, Tuesday said the Fund had provided research intervention between N250 to N300m to set up at least a quarter of the molecular labs established in the country.

He said approvals for research grants would be doubled in 2021 from over 128 approvals made in 2020.

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He stated this in Abuja Tuesday while receiving a contingent of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, NIPS, Kuru, Senior Executive Course 43, 2021.

Bogoro, who noted that the approvals would be announced as soon as the Board of Trustees gives its nod also disclosed that qualified institutions will draw a maximum of N50m research grants from the N7.5bn National Research Fund.

He said in the 2021 budget, awaiting approval; the agency would fund the establishment of more molecular labs and research on gene sequencing and phytogenic medicine as well as vaccine research and production, as a key area of unraveling the lethal covid-19 pandemic.

“We discovered that those facilities are helpful for both research and clinical purposes,” he said, adding that the facilities will help sustain medical research in the country.