Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi
The Vice Chancellor, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi, Bauchi State, Prof. Muhammad AbdulAzeez, has advocated for the establishment of Deputy Vice Chancellors (DVC) for Research and Development in Nigerian universities.
AbdulAzeez made the call yesterday in Bauchi during the second quarterly meeting of Committee of Directors of Research and Development of North-east Nigerian Public Universities.
According to him, “The establishment of the DVC Research and Development would not only be ideal but would further create awareness that the universities are competent for both research and teaching.
“When we talk about teaching, we have the Deputy Vice Chancellors for Academics, we also have Deputy Vice Chancellors for Administration, but there are no Deputy Vice Chancellors for Research.
“So I’m suggesting that the establishment of the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research and Development would be an ideal move because it is very important, as it would create awareness that these universities are competent for both research and teaching.
“When you have a good research and development directorate in your university, you would find out that funding won’t be a problem because that directorate would attract more funds than even consultancy.
“When you have research, it’s for development, and when you have development, it brings in innovation. These are the principles behind setting up a university.
“When you talk about community development, you are talking about research. If the research doesn’t have a positive impact on the communities, then there is no research.”
He explained that there were lots of research grants but the problem for most universities was how to discover and access them, adding that these were some of the things a competent research and development directorate would bring to the fore to help its institution.
Also speaking, Prof. Yahaya Imam from Borno State University said the essence of the meeting was to identify problems and proffer the best solution to solve them internally without anybody coming in to interfere.
According to him, “We felt that as a university, we should be able to make an impact in our various environments, most especially in the North-east zone.
“Although there is no zone in Nigeria without one problem or another, we felt that as university lecturers, we should be able to address some of these challenges and proffer workable solutions to them through our research and not just to write papers that people may not even read.”
The directors of Research and Development of all the public universities in the region were present for the second quarterly meeting.
