•Prof. Okojie addressing newsmen. With him is Prof. Odugbemi, VC, University of Lagos Photo: Sun News Publishing

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The Executive Chairman of the National Universities Commission, Professor Julius Okojie has identified poor research proposals of Nigerian academics as being responsible for their inability to attract World Bank grants for their work.

Making this observation at a press briefing to announce the 3rd Nigerian Universities Research and Development (NURESDEF) at the University of Lagos, Okojie said the grant, which was last accessed in 1994, was to the tune of 18 million dollars.

"The problem that we have is that our researches fail to meet the minimum academic standards. Academic staff can’t write research proposals. Recently, about a hundred research proposals were received, 20 were shortlisted but none made it to the point of accessing the funds."

As a way out of this dilemma, Okojie, however, proferred mentorship for the aspiring academic staff.
"In our days, when we wanted to write proposals, we usually took it to the professors to help us vet it, but these days, these lecturers will not even show you anything.

I remember that I took my first research proposal to one of my professors, and when it came back, it was covered in red pen, and I had to rewrite it. So, it’s important that these upcoming lecturers seek advice and mentorship from the professors who have done it before and know what it entails.

We also have a body that is taking this up now, that is the West African Research Innovation Management Association (WARIMA). The body has embarked on an enlightenment campaign about this and training people on how to write these proposals."

Speaking on the PhD requirements for university lecturers, Okojie said that those who are not comfortable with it can take their leave. And that if you don’t have a PhD, you can’t supervise a PhD. He also said that the NUC is embarking on a staff audit of universities to really ascertain who are really professors.

"Imagine a three-year-old university claiming to have 14 PhD students and 350 Masters students. Who is supervising their work? And we have received petition of such cases. What we are doing is that we will not recognize such, what we are after is quality not quantity."
Speaking further on NURESDEF, he said the fair was a platform for converting the abundant knowledge in the system to practical use.

"We have so much knowledge in the system, which needs to be converted into practical use."
According to the chairwoman of the local organizing committee of the fair, Prof. Mrs. Modupe Ogunlesi, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academic and Research, University of Lagos, not less than 1,000 researchers and 60 universities were billed to participate in the fair, which is the third, and first to be hosted outside Abuja.