NCC to support ETF on research

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has pledged to be in the forefront of support for the Education Trust Fund (ETF), in the implementation of its mandate as it relates to funding for research.

According to the acting Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Dr. Bashi Gwandu who spoke in Abuja at the launch of the ETF Research Fund by the Education Minister, Professor Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’I, he commended the visionary leadership in ETF under Professor Mahmood Yakubu as Executive Secretary, for an idea that will revolutionise the education sector, and Nigeria in general as he described education is the backbone of any economy.

Dr. Gwandu who is a member of the screening and monitoring sub-committee for Science and Technology, said, ”to be part of this project; it is an honour to me as well as an honour to all of us that are in the committee to be part of this project that will eventually revolutionise the way we operate”.

The NCC boss described the strategic role of research in the life of a society thus: “Research is about solving problems and proffering solutions for the future and equally looking at challenges in our society in different ways and so by focusing on such areas that matters to our country and hopefully, we will begin to make progress”, he said.

He lamented that this strategically important area of technology has been neglected for a long time. “At NCC we try as much as possible to make our own little contribution by means of providing computers to Universities and connecting them to the internet to enable them access materials abroad and so on. We will continue to work with ETF to support research in different areas that actually we believe can improve the Nigerian economy”, he said.

The Federal Government has recently provided N3 Billion grants for research across the three thematic areas of humanities and social sciences, science and technology and cross–cutting areas.