The recent board appointments
In my view, the biggest issue that should have dominated our national discourse is the relevance or otherwise of the existence of too many government agencies, commissions and research institutes to the development of our country. This does not in any way relegate the intensity of the avoidable blunder of appointing dead people by the […]
.jpg)
In my view, the biggest issue that should have dominated our national discourse is the relevance or otherwise of the existence of too many government agencies, commissions and research institutes to the development of our country. This does not in any way relegate the intensity of the avoidable blunder of appointing dead people by the Federal Government. I hope the Buhari administration has learnt its bitter lessons.
It is no longer news that on Friday, December 30, 2017, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed 209 board chairmen and 1,258 members of government-owned agencies and parastatals. By my record, we have about 24 research institutes, with some of them, especially in the agricultural sector, having somewhat duplicated functions. I stand to be corrected. No doubt, researches are needed for national development.
The questions are: When were these research institutes established? Are they still serving their purposes? Are they conducting researches? Are their workers going to work or just receiving monthly alerts? Is there no duplication of functions in some of them? What are their research findings? Do we still need them? Are our universities not meant for researches?
As far as I know, university lecturers are employed to lecture and research in their respective areas of specialisation. Why can’t we fund our professors in the universities properly to embark on researches? Why can’t we use the findings of our undergraduate projects, masters’ and PhD theses from our respective universities for development purposes?
In advanced countries of the world, apart from government funding of researches in the universities, there’s usually private funding of the institutions. Philanthropists, private companies, non-profit foundations, charity and professional organisations also fund researches.
It is time for government at all levels, the private sector, and indeed, all Nigerians, to wake up from their slumber and do the right thing. It is time to truly reposition our country. May God bless Nigeria.
Nurudeen Dauda wrote from Kaduna State