A team from the National Universities Commission (NUC) has heaped plaudits on the leadership of Covenant University for its quality investment in research and the technical expertise needed to drive the kind of research endeavour relevant to the present day.
The team led by the Deputy Director, Corporate Services Division, Executive Secretary's Office of the NUC, Mr. Adewale Bakare, said the team was pleased with the level of industry relationship that currently exists between Covenant University researchers and key industry players, noting that the University cannot do it alone and as such must continue to work towards establishing formidable partnerships with industry partners.
Mr. Bakare, who was accompanied by Mr. John Okpara and Mrs. Ezema Josephine Chioma, said the NUC was working on a national document that will help foster collaborations and identify the interests of private sector players so as to help academic institutions like Covenant University carry out research to meet the needs and aspirations of industry players.
He noted that research being one of the critical pillars of any quality university all over the world cannot be downplayed, thus the interest of the NUC to identify what universities in Nigeria have available in research, have them documented, create a window to help each university see what others are doing, and above all reinforce the existing relationship between the academia and the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG).
Responding, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Abiodun H. Adebayo, appreciated the team for undertaking the task of going through the University’s research engagement. According to him, irrespective of the accolades and commendations, the University management will not rest on its oars until the nation’s education profile becomes the cynosure of excellence around the world.
Professor Adebayo posited that quality research was a function of collaboration, and with the laudable initiative of the NUC to document ongoing research activities across all Nigerian universities, there will be greater accomplishment in the research profile of the nation’s researchers.
Professor Adebayo commended the leadership of the NUC for the ingenuity behind the initiative, noting that it will be a veritable document for signposting what is happening in the various universities across the 6 geopolitical zones of the nation.
The meeting had in attendance the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Olujide Adekeye; Acting Registrar, Mrs. Regina Tobi-David; Director, Financial Services, Pastor Olugbenga Kiki; Director, Covenant University Centre for Research, Innovation, and Discovery, Professor Kolawole Ajanaku; Centre Leader, Covenant Applied Informatics and Communication Africa Centre of Excellence, Professor Ezekiel Adebiyi; and other top members of research clusters in the university.