President Muhammadu Buhari has compelled Nigerian institutions to step up their research efforts to create a COVID-19 vaccine to combat the country’s most dreaded virus.
On Saturday, the President, represented by the Minister of State for Education, Mr. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, issued the challenge at the Federal University Dutsin-Ma (FUDMA) 5th and 6th combined convocations.
Nigerian universities, he continued, were expected to be centers for scientific and technical discoveries, innovations, value and character building, as well as social growth drivers.
The president went on to say that the vaccination will help Nigerians’ immune systems fight the virus.
He also stated that his government was dedicated to addressing the issues of long-term funding for research, capacity building, and job creation.
According to him, “You all know that in the year 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic began its devastating effect on the education sub-sectors, leading to the destruction of universities’ academic activities.
“I therefore urge and encourage the universities to intensify their research to come up with a more potent vaccine to fortify our immune system against this dreaded virus”.
He also ordered the institutions to look into other revenue-generating alternatives, such as research engagement with linked businesses and development partners.
He did, however, state that the federal government is dedicated to combating and defeating all acts of criminality across the country for real growth to thrive.
“Our security is a collective responsibility, we must join hands with the government by providing security agents with useful information to enable proactive mitigation of any of these occurrences,” he added.
Because of the country’s present security issues, the University’s Vice-Chancellor Prof. Armaya’u Hamisu-Bichi has encouraged the federal government to build trenches around the institution’s main campus.
NAN
