The Nation Newspaper

Tag: research

  • OAU gets $2m grant for cancer research

    Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, has been awarded $2 million by the Cancer Research Institute (CRI) in the United States, for research into treatment of the disease.

    The head of CRI medical research team Dr. Peter Kingham, broke the news during a courtesy call on the Acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof Tony Elujoba.

    He said the award was aimed at appreciating the management of OAU for its support to cancer researchers at the university’s College of Health Sciences that has been collaborating with other researchers from CRI to find a cure for cancer.

    In a statement, OAU’s Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Olarewaju, recalled how the synergy between the two institutions began in 2010, adding that a 10-year plan, which could have probably led to the cash award was attained within a few years.

    Kingham praised the dexterity of his colleagues at OAU, saying they were committed to finding cure to one of the leading causes of death.

    Elujoba assured the CRI delegation that the donation would be judiciously used.

    He challenged researchers to find a cure for cancer, which has hitherto defied cure, adding that the team should work toward making people seek help early enough instead of resorting to other means that would compound or worsen their conditions.

    OAU College of Health Sciences Provost, Prof Adesegun Fatusi, said the CRI delegation visit is to further cement the research-and-training relationship that was established seven years ago to help mankind live well and long.

  • Steady decline in research skills

    Research, as the name connotes, is an organised study; a methodological investigation into a subject in order to discover facts, to establish or revise a theory, or to develop a plan of action based on the facts discover.

    Research is key among other base upon which the quality of a nation’s education are measured. Thus, its importance among students and institutions cannot be overemphasised. To demonstrate further the importance of research in tertiary institutions, it is a prerequisite for students in their final year to take courses on different research skills and methodologies, which they are made to conduct on contending issues in the contemporary society.

    This is done for students to be qualified for graduation from tertiary institutions, thereby contributing to knowledge and development of the country. The students’ researches are supervised by academic staff. Thus, topics for these theses are crafted by students and submitted for scrutiny and approval by their supervisors or a panel set up, while the students defend the topics. They also defend project proposals and finally the thesis itself. These processes are usually undergone at the undergraduate, master and doctoral degree levels.

    Amidst these efforts, it has become a worrisome trend that students have deviated from the tradition of writing their projects themselves. Instead, resort to what is called “copy and paste” – the habit of duplicating or plagiarising works that have already been done by others. Given that the advent of new technologies has eased the entire process, students prefer to surf the Internet and get topics of their choice with complete materials. What they do is to copy verbatim and give the plagiarised materials to their supervisors, who in turn approve the work.

    In most cases, students go to other universities and get ready-made theses. Only students who might be considered intelligent would make some changes in the case study areas of the projects. Lecturers also play very important role here, as it is common now that they give students project topics and materials to just copy and submit as new works.

    In some instances, lecturers unfortunately tell the students not to bother themselves as there is no single area in a particular field that a research has not been carried out. The question is, are they encouraging the students on research or killing their morale?

    However, project works are intended to help students build themselves in research and to enable them contribute to the development of knowledge and the society. That is why students must state categorically the significance of their researches.

    What make students do all these, I think, is the attitudes of lecturers, because they seem to underplay their roles as supervisors. Lecturers are given courses on research, but they never mind to teach students appropriate skills needed in conducting qualitative and quantitative researches. However, students are rushed to present chapters 1 to 5. In this case, I wonder what the students will write and take to the supervisors. Unless the lecturers give the students projects to copy or the students surf the Internet and get completed projects, download and present to supervisors, students have no fault in this fire-brigade approach, because they have not been equipped with basic skills to carry out proper research.

    One notable area that kills morale of students to conduct research is government’s lackadaisical attitude. There is no funding provided to tertiary institutions by the government to allow students embark on researches. More so, there is no enabling environment for effective learning. Our libraries are equipped with outdated books, thus limiting both the staff and students’ access to updated materials on any chosen research topic.

    Of course, duplication of projects has become the order of the day in Nigeria – a great factor that reverses education development. When ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo visited Singapore, he was amazed with the level of development in Singapore. He didn’t hesitate to ask the Singaporean president how they came about their development. The Singaporean President showed him a book and the interesting thing is that, the book was written by the president. Without research, Singapore and other developed countries will not attain their status today.

    To arrest this problematic situation, measures must be taken urgently to reviewing curriculum of tertiary institutions and see the possibilities of making research methodology a course that would be taught from 100 to 400-Level. This would help to solving this great menace.

    Government should also increase the funding of tertiary institutions and give special incentive to boost students’ research capacities so that our universities can promote cutting-edge research that will make them compete globally.

    Students must know that they are the leaders of tomorrow. As such, it is pertinent to do the right thing when it comes to education and knowledge. Lecturers, too, should know students are entrusted to them and they are being paid to impart lasting knowledge on them, academically and in character. Plagiarising research works is a bad habit. Lecturers and students must look into this and do the appropriate.

  • ‘Use research findings now’

    A professor of Sociology University of Lagos (Unilag) ‘Lai Olurode, has canvassed practical application of the findings of scholarly research to lessen human suffering.

    Olurode regretted that science and other academic disciplines have “largely failed in the area of reducing human anguish, loneliness and suffering in the midst of plenty.”

    As a sociologist, Olurode advocated a bridge in the yawning gap between social research and public policy, noting that research findings should directly impact on governance processes.

    Olurode, delivered his Inaugural lecture at Unilag with the theme: ‘The slaughter’s slab as a metaphor.’

    He described his brand of sociology as “interventionist and practical…driven by civic tradition and social commitment, in opposition to armchair sociology.”

    Using that approach to interrogate the violence that is typical of Nigerian elections, he proposed a cut in the wages of political office holders to lessen the desperation for political power.

    According to the scholar, politics in Nigeria has become redefined as an opportunity, not for service but for personal gains.

    He said: “The disparity in salaries and allowances between political office holders (whether appointed or elected) and public/private workers should be narrowed so that public office seekers will not be given to aggressive and deviant behaviours.”

    Olurode, a former National Commissioner at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), linked the desperation for political office to the collapse of Nigeria’s agriculture-based rural economy and the shift to centralised oil rents that can be accessed only through political power. One of the factors that encourage electoral violence, according to him, is economic deprivation of a majority of citizens, which make them vulnerable to inducement by desperate politicians.

    He cited throngs of Nigerians who go to bed hungry because of poorly managed economy, and many more who can’t access healthcare because of the collapse of the health sector, as instances of what he described as ‘state murder.’

  • Don seeks use of research findings

    A professor of Sociology University of Lagos (UNILAG) ‘Lai Olurode has canvassed the application of scholarly research to reduce human suffering.

    Olurode regretted that science and other academic disciplines have “largely failed in reducing human anguish, loneliness and suffering in the midst of plenty.”

    A sociologist, Olurode advocated the bridging of the gap between social research and public policy, noting the former should impact on governance.

    Olurode spoke at his inaugural lecture at UNILAG. It had as theme: ‘The slaughter’s slab as a metaphor.’

    He described his brand of sociology as “interventionist and practical… driven by civic tradition and social commitment,in opposition to armchair sociology.”

    Using that approach to interrogate the violence that is typical of Nigerian elections, he proposed a cut in the wages of political office holders to lessen the desperation for political power.

    According to the scholar, politics in Nigeria has become redefined as an opportunity, not for service but for personal gains.

    He said: “The disparity in salaries and allowances between political office holders (whether appointed or elected) and public/private workers should be narrowed so that public office seekers will not be given to aggressive and deviant behaviours.”

    Olurode, a former National Commissioner at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), linked the desperation for political office to the collapse of the country’s agriculture-based rural economy and the shift to centralised oil rents that could be accessed only through political power. One of the factors that encourage electoral violence, according to him, is economic deprivation of a majority of citizens, which make them vulnerable to inducement by desperate politicians.

    He cited throngs of Nigerians who go to bed hungry because of poorly managed economy, and others who couldn’t access healthcare because of the collapse of the sector, as instances of what he described as ‘state murder.’

    “The higher the level of socio-economic deprivation, the higher the level of violence in the electoral process under conditions of weak institutionalisation of social norms,” he added.

    Olurode proposed measures the government could adopt to reduce electoral violence, one of which is the reactivation of the rural economy to redress the impoverishment of citizens.

    “The transformation of Nigeria’s rural sector will certainly resolve basic existential challenges and attract some away from the slaughter slab,” Olurode advised.

    He also said the nation’s law should be rewritten to reflect a people-driven document, in lieu of the one Olurode described as ‘military imposed’.

    He suggested a reduction in the cost of elections, as well as promotion of sustained vigilance and active participation by citizens in the electoral process, among others.

    At the event, were top principal officers of the university led by its  Vice-Chancellor Prof Rahmon Bello. Guests included former Lagos Governor Alhaji Lateef Jakande, and his wife, Abimbola; former INEC national commissioner,Ambassador Mohammad Wali, who represented  former INEC Chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega; former Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Musiliu Smith; the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, was represented by one of his chiefs; the Oluwo of Iwo Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi; and wife of the late legal icon Gani Fawehinmi, Ganiat.

     

     

     

  • 19 academics conduct research in Shell

    Nineteen academics from various universities in Nigeria have begun research attachments in several fields of study in the latest phase of the sabbatical and internship programme of Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria Limited (SPDC) Joint Venture, which was introduced in 1980.

    The eight professors and 11 research interns began their programmes last month, seeking to build industry knowledge and understanding in such fields as biodiversity, petroleum engineering, geophysics, impact assessment, community health and oil and gas exploration.

    According to Shell spokesperson, Bamidele Olugbenga Odugbesan, the recipients are from the University of Benin, University of Ibadan, Niger Delta University, University of Ilorin, University of Lagos, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ahmadu Bello University, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, University of Calabar and University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

    “Our research and internship programmes are key aspects of our effort to contribute to the development of higher education in Nigeria,” said Igo Weli, General Manager External Relations.

    He continued: “It is a mutually beneficial relationship. SPDC obtains specialised and cost-effective services from the professors and senior lecturers, while they in turn acquire industry experience and exposure to new technologies that can be ploughed back to the university community.

    For a period of one year, the professors on sabbatical will conduct research in identified areas and share their findings with SPDC. Part of the internship programme involves Master’s degree students who are also offered one-year placements to acquire work experience in SPDC.

    “The other set of internships are from the Shell Centre of Excellence at the University of Benin who will spend six months, enabling them to gain critical working experience and be exposed to Shell’s working culture and ethics. Recruitment for sabbatical and research internship scheme begins with advertisements in national and local newspapers in March with interviews in July each year,”

  • Shell sponsors 19 Nigerians on research

    Shell sponsors 19 Nigerians on research

    Nineteen academics from different universities in Nigeria have begun research attachments in several fields of study in the latest phase of the sabbatical and internship programme of Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria Limited (SPDC) Joint Venture.

    The programme was introduced in 1980.

    The eight professors and 11 research interns began their programmes last month, seeking to build industry knowledge and understanding in such fields as biodiversity, petroleum engineering, geophysics, impact assessment, community health and oil and gas exploration.

    The recipients are from the University of Benin, University of Ibadan, Niger Delta University, University of Ilorin, University of Lagos, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ahmadu Bello University, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, University of Calabar and University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

    “Our research and internship programmes is a key aspect of our effort to contribute to the development of higher education in Nigeria,” said Igo Weli, General Manager External Relations.

    “It is a mutually beneficial relationship. SPDC obtains specialised and cost-effective services from the professors and senior lecturers, while they in turn acquire industry experience and exposure to new technologies that can be ploughed back to the university community. “

    For a period of one year, the professors on sabbatical will conduct research in identified areas and share their findings with SPDC.

    Part of the internship programme involves Master’s degree students, who are also offered one-year placements to acquire work experience in SPDC. The other set of internships are from the Shell Centre of Excellence at the University of Benin, who will spend six months, enabling them to gain critical working experience and be exposed to Shell’s working culture and ethics. Recruitment for sabbatical and research internship scheme begins with advertisements in national and local newspapers in March with interviews in July each year.

  • Fighting recession with research

    Fighting recession with research

    Where lies the solution to the economic recession? In research, say experts, who urge the government to tap into the works of researchers  OLUWATOYIN ADELEYE reports

    It is no longer news that Nigeria is in a recession. Getting out of it is the major task confronting the government which has been exploring optisms to get the economy back on track. To experts, Nigeria should begin to look inward for its economic revivals pills.

    They spoke of the need to reverse the import-export imbalance that leaves Nigeria dependent on foreign goods at a exorbitant cost.

    Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO), Director-General Dr Gloria Elemo said at a biotechnology conference held at the Covenant University that the imbalance was costing Nigeria so much, especially as the value of naira continues to fall.

    She said local research could provide solutions to the imbalance and called for investment in such efforts.

    But, beyond investments, she said Nigerians and the local industry must have faith in made-in-Nigeria goods.

    “There is no biotechnology industry in Nigeria. No human vaccine is produced in Nigeria. We import everything. The government spends about N12 billion annually on vaccine importation and $3.6 billion annually on imported enzymes, which we create at the institute. We are just making other nations rich. Have we ever imagined a Nigeria where standardised products are developed locally from our readily available plants and herbs?”

    Emphasising that Nigeria’s problems could not be solved without research, Dr Elemo added:  “National development aims at raising the standard of living through increasing income, better education, more jobs, among others. A country’s potential for economic growth is greatly influenced by its endowment in terms of physical and human resources. There is no way you can create jobs without creating industries, industries without innovation and innovation cannot come without research. The time when research efforts could not solve Nigeria’s problem is now over.”

    Last week, some academic staff of the University of Lagos  (UNILAG) displayed competitive research works that can solve local problems.

    Professor of Engineering, David Esezobor believes that his thermal food processing food chamber can increase the scale of drying food without the attendant health hazards associated with local drying methods.

    Fish or other foods for drying could be hung horizontally in the chamber which rotates while drying.

    He said his chamber would make stock/dry fish produced in Nigeria more acceptable for export as well as increase their shelf life. What is more, he said the chamber is environmentally friendly because it uses agro-forestry waste for energy.

    Esezobor said: “This is a novel thermal drying technology for food processing. It can process variety of food products such as meat, fish, snail, bush meat at the same time. It has a high capacity of up to three to 4.5 metritons per batch. That means if the average kg for fish is 1.5 kg, then in a batch, you can process 3,000 fish and retain their by-products of cod liver oil for further processing.

    “I was inspired to build this chamber because of the difficulty in preserving food products. You see these fish farmers, after harvesting their products, and they have a great harvest, they would not be able to preserve them and there would be spoilage. But with this product, you can preserve your food for up to two years and they can even be exported.

    “If you look at the chemical analysis, they are of very high quality.  The chemical quality of the traditional method of smoking fish is cancerous, due to incomplete combustion of the fuel, when they use firewood, charcoal, and others. This product is here to address that issue. It is also not manually operated and the fuel is cheap (agroforestry waste). It rotates by itself, while the fish hangs from the top so you just close the chamber and wait for the required number of time and the product would be processed all around.”

    Boosting local production of goods and services and improved infrastructure will help Nigeria become more self-sufficient, said Mr Bello Mustapha, a social scientist.

    His research work on Infrastructure and Industrial Sector Performance showed that factors like poor roads, poor electricity supply and others do not have as much damning effect on low-level productivity as believed.  On the contrary, Mustapha said corruption and government policies had more debilitating effect on productivity.

    “There is the popular belief that infrastructural service should have a strong impact on industrial and manufacturing performance of a country. In this study, we discovered that electricity generation, telephone usage, road infrastructure, among others, actually have a very limited impact on the manufacturing industry. Any good road would have a positive impact on industry performance, but it is actually quite insignificant, because it does not enhance the manufacturing capacity of the industries in Africa. Rather, factors like control of corruption, government policies, among others are the major factors that affect the manufacturing industry,” he said.

    To address the problem, Mustapha, a Ph.D student, said the government ought to formulate development-friendly policies, while addressing corruption which undermined them.

    High level of youth unemployment is a factor of socio-economic underdevelopment.  This is exacerbated by lack of skills or limited opportunities to gain technical and entrepreneur skills.

    Dr Ayodele Ogunleye and Dr Blessing Anyanwu believe that this can be addressed by leveraging on technology to provide access to knowledge to many more youths than the conventional education system.

    The duo came up with an online entrepreneurship university that would allow students to be trained by industry experts with ease.

    Ogunleye said: “Our vision is to help build a fully industrialised Nigerian society through our entrepreneurship educational training programmes for the award of diplomas and degrees. The aim is to ensure that we develop the entrepreneurship skills of all Nigerians so that they can pursue solely entrepreneurship courses without having to show up physically. Many universities have entrepreneurship embedded in their curriculum but this one is focused purely on a full entrepreneurship degree.”

    The associate professor explained that the students would also get hands-on one-on-one sessions in laboratories built at strategic points from time to time.

    For Dr Blessing Anyikwa, an adult education expert, the economic well-being of Nigeria is dependent on the well-being of farmers who produce the food that feeds the nation.

    With limited education and access to technology, Dr Anyikwa said the contributions of farmers to the GDP, particularly rice farmers in Abia State, whom she studied, would also be limited.

    To address the limitation, Dr Anyikwa has come up with a curriculum to hone the skills of farmers, who need a peculiar kind of education because of their nomadic nature.

    She said: “These farmers are not really educated formally and because they migrate, it is difficult for them to have any formal education. So I had a timing model executed for them, a curriculum prepared and intervention programme on how to train them to read and write as well as learn how to build new technology on rice production. It is known that people from that area eat ofada rice and because they don’t have technique for the modern way of serving rice, there is a lot of stone in it. But the intervention is for the creation of modern rice processing technology. That way, they will have increase in production, which increases their income and a better socio-economic life.

    “Also, If the intervention is done on a larger scale, it turns Nigeria around. We don’t have to depend on foreign foods. And we would have more of such rice at cheaper price, which is far more nutritious than imported rice.”

    For the industry to have faith in local research, however, Chairman, Vitafoam Nigeria PLC, Dr Bamidele Makanjuola, said Nigerian researchers ought to be more disciplined about following through with their work.

    Makanjuola, while delivering the keynote address at the UNILAG annual research conference and fair last week, said many researchers discouraged private organisations from investing in their works because they often abandoned the project midway.

    Makanjuola shared disappointing examples of his organisation’s experience working with local researchers, who failed to complete their part of the bargain.

    He said: “Between 2010 and 2012, two leading universities were engaged to research the local extraction and refining of castor oil.  Vitafoam committed a substantial amount of money to the projects, with no tangible outcome. Eventually, the institutions unceremoniously abandoned the project.

    “Most recently, one of Vitafoam’s subsidiaries (Vitapur Nig. Ltd) needed to generate some technical data for its marketing communication materials. Samples of our manufactured insulated materials were passed on to a university faculty that had the technical competency to handle the assignment. Despite ready availability of funds, the job remained uncompleted for over 18 months. The contract has since been re-awarded to a laboratory in South Africa.”

    However, Makanjuola said his firm still had faith in Nigerian researchers and technicians.  He said efforts were being made to improve industry-varsity partnership.

    “Vitafoam is currently attempting to restructure its strategic approach to building a more-enduring relationship with tertiary institutions like yours (UNILAG),” he said.

  • Research and development take centre stage in Senate

    Research and development take centre stage in Senate

    Senators described it as one of the finest bills on the floor of the Senate. A bill whose sponsor believes will move the country away from resource based economy solely dependent on commodities to a knowledge based economy through research and innovation.

    A bill for an Act to establish the National Research and Innovation Council, National Research and Innovation Foundation and related matters, 2016 scaled the decisive second reading in the upper chamber seamlessly.

    Over 70 senators are co-sponsors of the bill. The Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, is passionate about it.  The Federal Executive Council endorsed it in 2013.

    Perhaps the massive support for the bill is a product of the recognition that research and innovation is the way to go if the country is to witness any meaningful breakthrough in development.

    The chief sponsor of the bill, Senator David Umaru (Niger East) introduced the bill as a desirable and important legislative intervention aimed at not only reversing the country’s economic predicament but also to entrench a framework that will ensure the use of research and innovation as a tool to fast track sustainable development in the country.

    The lawmaker recalled with nostalgia, the acclaimed economic potentials of the country at independence which could not be fully harnessed to place the country in its rightful position in the comity of nations as a result of certain economic misfortunes, including military coup d’etats, the civil war and the discovery of crude oil.

    Particularly, the discovery of crude oil instead of being a springboard for development became the economic albatross of the country.

    For him, “Nigerians stopped using their brain when oil was discovered in commercial quantity in the country. But the reality has dawned on all of us now that we are unable to feed ourselves because we are import dependent nation,” he lamented.

    He submitted that the country could only reverse the absurd situation by evolving into a knowledge  based economy by creating an effective national research and innovation system that would address the shortcomings inherent in existing framework such as the absence of sectoral collaboration between research and development institutions, absence of a national research agenda, lack of incentives for researchers, lack of adequate protection for intellectual property and the huge disconnect  between research policies and economic policies. In most countries, business activities drive research.

    Umaru took a cursory look at policies and arrangement put in place by previous administrations to promote research and development in the country.

    The re-establishment of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology as an autonomous entity, he said, underscored the appreciation of the role of research and development to national socio-economic development.

    He specifically referred to the flagship programmes of the 2003 Biotechnology Research Information and Communication Technology, Space Science and Technology, Energy and Engineering materials.

    In 2005, he said the 2003 Science and Technology policy was criticised as being more of voluminous compendium of sub-sectoral policies without proper harmonisation of such policies with the economic policies which necessitated a rigorous review process that culminated in the adoption of the Science and Technology Innovation (STI) policy of 2012 which has now been woven into a bill for implementation.

    The lawmaker informed his colleagues that the subsisting STI represented a major paradigm shift in terms of policies on research and development in many aspects.

    For the first time, he said, the new national policy on STI was designed in tandem with the country’s economic policy, the 20:2020 so as to resolve the long standing disconnect between economic policies and research and development. He pointed that there are also adequate proposals in the STI policy to bridge the gap between research and industrialization in the country.

    To demonstrate the commitment of the Federal Government to the implementation of the STI policy, President Muhammadu Buhari has taken the driver’s seat with the launch in 2014 of the National Research and Innovative Council as the apex policy body on national research and Innovation.

    Talking about global trend on STI, the Niger East lawmaker informed that an overview policy in environment of selected African countries, including Ethiopia, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya and the 15 member states of the Southern African Development Community, shows that there are existing policies and legislations in place to promote research and innovation in most African countries.

    The International Telecommunication Union, he said, reported that about 60 per cent of STI institutions were autonomous and independent of government interference.

    Besides, Umaru told his colleagues that the United Nations System Task Team on post 2015 UN development agenda also recommended that countries desirous of steady improvement in human development indices such as life expectancy, standard of living and others should pay more attention to research and innovation.

    There is therefore a convergence of global opinion on research and innovation as a tool for fast-tracking sustainable development hence the need for Nigeria to key in through the passage of the bill,” Umaru said.

    With the public hearing on the bill at the corner, the All Progressives Congress lawmaker informed that the bill, when passed, will streamline funding of research and innovation activities in the country to accord priority to issues identified in the national research agenda.

    Senators who contributed to the general principles of the bill agreed that if passed and implemented, the National Research and Innovation Council, National Research and Innovation Foundation, will boost research endeavour in the country. They also agreed that the bill will create the missing link between research, innovation and policies, while also engendering the needed marketability of research works.

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki described the bill as one of the development intervention proposed legislations that would go a long way in retooling development initiatives in the country.

    There is no doubt that if passed, the Act will ensure greater recognition of researchers and provide protection of patented research findings in the country.

  • Don seeks research-based transport policy

    Provost of the Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM), Ikeja, Prof Babatunde Solagberu, has urged the government to conduct thorough research into the various aspects of the society before formulating policies.

    He said this while delivering the university’s 53rd inaugural lecture on Ojo campus. It had as theme: ‘Of broken bones and broken dreams; a bone carpenter to the rescue.’

    Solagberu said his research linked major causes of road transport injuries (RTI) to human factors, followed by vehicular factors, with the least being environmental factors.

    He said: “Human beings are the largest contributors to the problems.

    “We did a research published in the Pan-African Medical Journal. Eighty five per cent of the problems are caused by humans. We are the ones who won’t follow speed limit, will drink and drive, drive against traffic, work ourselves as if we were machine and be tired; then become sleepy and still be driving, instead of us to park and rest.”

    Solagberu, an orthopedic surgeon, downplayed seat belt policies, noting that other factors were more prominent in causing RTIs.

    “For vehicles, the two most common causes of RTI are burst tires and brake failure; and for environment, the two most common are pot holes on the road and broken obstacles. Now, where is seat belt in all of these? Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying seat belt is not important. But if you have 1,000 problems, you ought to have the most important and that is what I mean. Our road safety people should formulate their policies to follow good research,” he said.

    He called for more funding from government and the society for the medical institutions to maximise their potential.

    “It is not only government. There is a role for everyone to play. We can have non-governmental organisations; but the responsibility is more on government, because government is organised,” Solagberu added.

    He continued: “Funding is an issue. Lagos State government is doing a lot but it is still not enough. There are policies that can be made, collaborations between the ministries of health and transport, among others. The institutions that also produce the expert, 99.9 per cent of their funding is coming from government. That is a lot. I feel if a lot more funding is devoted into the system, more can be achieved.

    “We see about 1,200 patients in our surgical emergency room at LASUCOM. Thirty per cent of them are sent back because the spaces are full. So, we need to expand facilities. Research also needs to be funded. Most of what we have been doing, a lot of them are from our own pockets. But it is not only government, we too should organise ourselves.

    “There should be the Trauma Society of Nigeria that should have everybody interested in contributing to the development of the society involved, not only health experts. That way, we would have a lot of things to help reduce injuries because it is about promoting safety. What we are doing now is like mopping the floor of a leaking roof. We should do a lot more and move out to prevent the injuries.”

  • Don seeks research-based transport policy

    Provost of the Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM), Ikeja, Prof Babatunde Solagberu, has urged the government to conduct thorough research into the various aspects of the society before formulating policies.

    He said this while delivering the university’s 53rd inaugural lecture on Ojo campus. It had as theme: ‘Of broken bones and broken dreams; a bone carpenter to the rescue.’

    Solagberu said his research linked major causes of road transport injuries (RTI) to human factors, followed by vehicular factors, with the least being environmental factors.

    He said: “Human beings are the largest contributors to the problems.

    “We did a research published in the Pan-African Medical Journal. Eighty five per cent of the problems are caused by humans. We are the ones who won’t follow speed limit, will drink and drive, drive against traffic, work ourselves as if we were machine and be tired; then become sleepy and still be driving, instead of us to park and rest.”

    Solagberu, an orthopedic surgeon, downplayed seat belt policies, noting that other factors were more prominent in causing RTIs.

    “For vehicles, the two most common causes of RTI are burst tires and brake failure; and for environment, the two most common are pot holes on the road and broken obstacles. Now, where is seat belt in all of these? Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying seat belt is not important. But if you have 1,000 problems, you ought to have the most important and that is what I mean. Our road safety people should formulate their policies to follow good research,” he said.

    He called for more funding from government and the society for the medical institutions to maximise their potential.

    “It is not only government. There is a role for everyone to play. We can have non-governmental organisations; but the responsibility is more on government, because government is organised,” Solagberu added.

    He continued: “Funding is an issue. Lagos State government is doing a lot but it is still not enough. There are policies that can be made, collaborations between the ministries of health and transport, among others. The institutions that also produce the expert, 99.9 per cent of their funding is coming from government. That is a lot. I feel if a lot more funding is devoted into the system, more can be achieved.

    “We see about 1,200 patients in our surgical emergency room at LASUCOM. Thirty per cent of them are sent back because the spaces are full. So, we need to expand facilities. Research also needs to be funded. Most of what we have been doing, a lot of them are from our own pockets. But it is not only government, we too should organise ourselves.

    “There should be the Trauma Society of Nigeria that should have everybody interested in contributing to the development of the society involved, not only health experts. That way, we would have a lot of things to help reduce injuries because it is about promoting safety. What we are doing now is like mopping the floor of a leaking roof. We should do a lot more and move out to prevent the injuries.”