The Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions (ASURI) has called on chief executives of research and development institutes (RDIs) to prepare for the National Research and Innovation Council (NRIC) by including capacity building in their appropriation for the 2020 budget.

In a letter, “REQUEST FOR INCLUSION OF CAPACITY BUILDING IN YOUR BUDGET FOR THE YEAR 2020,” addressed to the chief executives, ASURI told the Directors General of Federal Research and Development Institutions (RDIs), Colleges of Agriculture and Forestry, Allied Institutions and Centres, that capacity building was necessary in order to prepare the sector for NRIC.

The letter, signed by Secretary General Dr. Theophilus Ndubuaku says, “As part of preparations and repositioning of the Research and Development Institutes (RDI) sector in readiness for the actualization of the National Research and Innovation Council (NRIC) and the accompanying National Research and Innovation Fund (NRIF), we write to request that you include appropriation for Capacity Building in your budget for the year 2020.”

It adds: “It is imperative that the RDI sector puts its house in order in preparation for this Council and this begins through Capacity Building for researchers to position them for accessing funds from NRIF. In this area, ASURI expects Chief Executives of RDIs to play the leadership role and be pro-active.”

The ASURI Scribe reminded the CEOs that “only recently, the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Professor Suleiman Bogoro, upbraided university professors for their inability to write good proposals to enable them access funds for research from TETFund and spoke of earmarking funds for capacity building in this regard.”

He said that although the Union had been the lone voice in advocating the establishment of the Council, other interest groups would also benefit from it when it becomes actualized, adding that this would make it competitive and that the sector must not be caught napping.

“No one is contesting with the universities and the Colleges of Education over TETFund, but NRIC/NRIF is going to be competitive and we can be sure that although it is only ASURI that is advocating the actualization of the Fund, the universities are already gearing up to access funds from it. We shall therefore be piqued with any CEO that disregards this appeal.”

The letter, dated 28th June 2019, with reference number ASN/NRIC/DGS/06319/1, recalls the efforts of the union in upscaling budgetary allocations to the sector in recent years.

“In the last couple of years, the Union has been interfacing with key members of the National Assembly over budgetary allocations to the RDI sector and it is noteworthy that following ASURI’s presentation to the Senate Committee on Appropriations, the budgetary allocations to Research Institutes have improved considerably, even if nobody wants to appreciate our efforts in this regard.

“In view of the foregoing, therefore, we appeal that all Research Institutes include Capacity Building towards the NRIF in their 2020 budget and subsequent years. NRIC must not meet us unprepared.”

As part of the union’s effort towards getting the sector ready for the task ahead, it initiated a meeting with the Chief Executives of the RDIs. At the meeting, which took place at the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) on May 16, the Director General of the National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI), Engineer (Dr.) Mohammed Jibrin, was unanimously adopted as Chairman of the Committee of Directors of Research Institutes (CODRI).