The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) on Tuesday disclosed that over N300 million on installation of molecular laboratories in some institutions in the country.
This is even as it unveiled plans to fund the establishment of more molecular laboratories and researches on gene sequencing and phytogenic medicine and vaccine research and production as part of its efforts to position Nigeria on a strong remedial pedestal in tackling the menace of lethal covid-19 pandemic.
The Executive Secretary of the Fund, Prof. Suleiman Bogoro, who gave these hints in Abuja when he received in audience members of the Executive Course 43 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru, Jos, said the agency’s research grants would be doubled this year and that as soon the Board of Trustees gives its approvals the beneficiary institutions would be announced.
Recalling that over 128 approvals were made in 2020, Bogoro said that qualified institutions will draw a maximum of N50 million research grants from the N7.5 billion National Research Fund (NRF).
He expatiated: ”Under the instruction of President Muhammadu Buhari, the fund provided research intervention between N250 to N300 million, to set up, at least, a quarter of the molecular labs established in the country.
“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,” he said.
While disclosing that funds were made available to some medical research institutes and colleges for the purpose of research, the Executive Secretary pointed out that more than 80 per cent of libraries in public tertiary institutions are TETFund-provided libraries.
Commenting on the TETFund’s impact generally , Bogoro explained that one of the priority areas of the fund’s intervention was the academic staff development.
Earlier in his remarks, the Acting Director General of NIPSS, Brig. Gen. Chukwuemeka Udaya, said the Institute planned that seven groups would be visiting various institutions, including TETFund.
Specifically, he explained that the visit to the Fund’s management was aimed at finding out or understanding how the institute has been able fulfilling its mandate over the years.
