THE DEARTH OF RESEARCH IN NIGERIA WITH REFERENCE TO OSUN STATE Olawale, Temitope Akintayo, MBA

According

to

the

Organization

for

Economic

Co-operation

and

Development (OCED), Research and Development refers to creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and

society, and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications. It is easy to see from the examples of the

economies of United States of America and the United Kingdom w33hich are both knowledge driven, the growing importance of research and development. An increase in basic scientific

research and development (R&D) has led to acceleration in the growth of the stock of scientific and technological knowledge in these developed economies. The fundamental advances made in the field of genetic

engineering and the recent claims of a cure for AIDS and various forms of cancer, cloning, vaccine researches on malaria, amongst others are all products of research. These scientific and

technological advances as a result of basic research has led to the US and UK's remarkable ability to create new industries and jobs, improve the standard of living of their people and provide sophisticated technology that ensures their national security. Another aspect of research is the social research and according to Oehmke (1995), social research differs from basic research in that it is designed to explicitly individual to affect people. It is by

concerned

with

improving

and

social

welfare

influencing the actions which people take.

The

World

Bank select, for and

(2002) adapt

noted

that

the

ability and use

of

society

to is

produce, critical standards

commercialise, economic that

knowledge

sustained stressed

growth

and has

improved become

living most

knowledge

the

important factor in economic development. Supporting research, in particular, was university-based to be research, an whether basic in or the

social,

considered

important

element

strategies to promote and sustain economic growth. This helped create a favourable political attitude to funding research and supporting research research was staff to in be many of countries. critical Furthermore, for

considered

importance

development and was supported by public money (OECD, 1999 in Millar & Senker, 2000). The Universities were relied on for carrying out a major part of the public funded research. The nature of research activities and motivations changed in the knowledge economies. The quantity of knowledge embedded in the goods produced and exposed has increased considerably (World Bank, 1999). It has been researched and confirmed that marginal increase in investment in Research and Development (R&D) results in almost equally corresponding marginal increase in a countrys Gross

Domestic Product (GDP). According to Chen and Dahlman (2004, investments in R&D contribute to increases in national income and it is estimated that one percentage point increase in the ratio of R&D expenditure to GNP increases the growth rate of GDP by 0.78 per cent. Studies carried out and reported by Millar and Senker (2000) on research findings for different countries showed that over 50% of research funding comes from the industry and not government. Countries like Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland
2

and the USA recorded industry funding of R&D in Universities & Research Institutes of over 60%, while Korea and Japan showed industry funding for of over 70%. Average spending & on R&D in

Organsation

European

Economic

Cooperation

Development

(OCED) countries is currently 8% of GDP (OECD, 1999 in Millar & Senker, 2000). France has a higher percentage of 9-10% and

Japan, a slightly lower figure of 6-7%. Nigerias allocation to R&D as a percentage of GDP from 1990 to 2004 ranged between 0.01 - 0.03% with government providing 100% of the fund in almost all the years 2004, under there with the review. were best In few

instances,

between from

2001 foreign

and

marginal of their

contributions

agencies,

involvement in 2001 at 5.5% contribution of total research fund for that year. In all of these years, surprisingly, there was no evidence of industry participation in the funding of research efforts in the research institutes and universities. The question now is why are our business men and industry players in the private sector so indifferent to global practice of participating in improving knowledge to drive and grow the economy, since the primary objective of research should target economic and social development? One may quickly want to

conclude at this point that the reason for non-participation of the private sector in research is the lack of trust or belief in the quality of research efforts coming from the universities and other research institutes. Although this assertion is not

supported by any empirical evidence, experience as an insider in the academic environment clearly points in the direction that private sector/industry players would not invest their resources in universities or other research institutes that would produce research outcomes that cannot be relied upon or would be

completely useless and inapplicable. One index of measuring the research output was by the number and quality of published works authored by academics in international journals and by the world distribution of active serial titles emanating from the

universities, which contribute to the generation, dissemination and application of scientific knowledge for development in

Nigeria and beyond (Cetto A. M., 1998). Laying credence to the assertion earlier made, Olukoju A. (2002) stated in a paper he presented in 2002 at the 28th Annual Spring Symposium at Dakar, Senegal that the quality of books and journals produced by

Nigerian scholars is variable. Some are products of painstaking scholarship and quality printing while others are slap-dash

contraptions aimed at a waiting market (the students more often) or the deadline for submission of papers for promotion. Another issue of serious concern for the industry would be the determination of ownership of patent and propriety rights of the outcome of such research efforts. Apart from the legal issues that may arise, again the issue of trust comes in as earlier adduced. This position brings about the need to examine why the academics in the Nigerian space have failed in the view of many including the players in the industry, to produce meaningful research

results, even with the little resources that are accruable to them from government. Except for a few research activities, most are conducted on small scale level within each institution and these do not seem to bear immediate relevance to the here and now problems of the larger society outside of these institutions (Shehu,2004).

Infrastructural problem has been identified as a major issue in the engaging in quality research. This could as well be a fall
4

out of the funding problem. Another reason prominent that cannot be wished away is the socio-economic and political situations in the country. The environment is generally not conducive for

carrying out meaningful research work that is not just jenujenu. Jenu-jenu here signifies research for personal economic gain only. These socio-economic and political situations have been observed to contribute in no small measures to the dearth of meaningful research. Research is time consuming and requires full-time of total commitment. These conditions we have found ourselves in Nigeria realistically do not permit researchers to be fully

committed to their calling. There is economic hardship that is forever biting harder; general insecurity of lives and tenure of office; care poor system of transportation, others. As and inadequate the health is

facilities,

among

Nigerians,

summary

that, most of us, particularly the class of people that are expected to be engaged in carrying out researches, are still living from hand to mouth, trying to satisfy the basic needs of life. This position had disturbed and still disturbing, so

greatly, the free flow of thought of researchers and the amount of time that should have been devoted to conducting purposeful research. Another factor is inadequate training and development. Of

course, it can be adduced that this also resulted from poor funding. eighties, research Brain had drain been a syndrome, serious two which in started our in the midand and

issue

universities insolvency

institutes

for

reasons:

economic

poor infrastructural facilities to carry out research. In human resources management, It can one only of come the factors of motivation is

achievement.

about

through

responsibility,

which must be accompanied by authority. Most endowed researchers for lack of motivation, by these reasons have left Nigeria for other developed nations that have in place adequate structures for carrying out meaningful research. Consequently, we are faced with a big challenge very of having left in our institutions are inept as in

researchers,

largely,

people

that

conceptualising and executing purposeful research. One other area that may be very difficult to wish away is greed and corruption the twin brothers that had brought our

nation down on her knees. Most private concerns that probably would have love to engage in collaboration with our research institutions have fears of not only getting poor research

results that will be inapplicable in real life situations, but also losing their investments in research to hungry and greedy researchers, who are only out to exploit such investors by overblowing the research cost out of proportion with no commensurate value for such research grant/fund/allocation. Going forward, it has been observed that the problems associated the dearth of research generally and specifically in Nigeria are numerous, amongst which are: 1. Funding Only government had been involved in the funding of research project with an amount that in infinitesimal compared to the size of the GDP. Most unfortunately, unlike in other developed economies, where the industry contributes about 50% of total research fund, the industry in Nigeria contributes nothing. This had incapacitated greatly the quantum of

research activities engaged in by researchers. 2. Distrust The industry that was to be the target of research activities does not believe in the process and efficacy of the research outcomes carried out by Nigerian research
6

institutions, as most research themes/objectives are not in tandem with reality; and eventual results are largely

inapplicable. 3. Infrastructure - There are not enough infrastructure required in most cases to pursue rigorous research activities. In some government research institutes, the available infrastructure is not maintained and is out of date. 4. Staffing The most endowed Nigerian researchers due to lack of proper motivation to excel in their chosen fields, had left the shores of this country to other better organized

environments. 5. Structure industry Existing structure as there for had research not been discourages effort at

participation,

clearly articulating the inherent benefits for the industry to encourage them to participate actively. 6. Research for the sake of promotion The academics in Nigeria see research that they do as a means for gaining promotion only rather than a way to advance knowledge to promote

production and innovation in different areas of need in the society. Hence the few research papers seen are out only to the extent that they are serving this purpose and the quality usually is abysmal. SUGGESTIONS The recourse to R&D has continued to decline in the country despite its proven role of scientific research as the fulcrum on which self-reliant national economies rest. Research is meant to be a tool for improving knowledge in the different areas of human endeavour. History had vindicated the need for research as it heralded innovation, which brought about the development of electricity, aircraft, mobile communication, and several others.

Research is meant to intellectually assist in the development of our economy through new discoveries, re-invention, and provision of data to assist in formulating sound national technological, economic, social, political and administrative policies that

will drive growth and development of the country. Therefore, the need for the participation of the private sector in supplying the research institutes with research questions i.e. issues that require investigation for which most industrial concerns do not have capacity to investigate, but for which research

organizations have been designed to engage in. Equally and more important is the need for the industry to collaborate more in the area of funding, rather than leave this to the government only, as it had earlier been established that there exist no industry research participation results in both in We funding must and in the use from of the

Nigeria. that

borrow

leave this

industrialized

nations

already

understood

concept,

where the industry is into counterpart funding with government for several research projects going on in their environment.

In order to entrench this in our system, it will be appropriate for an existing agency of government in the Federal Ministry of Industry to be given added responsibility of coordinating and managing the relationship and collaboration (linkage) between industry and the research organizations. The Federal Ministry of Science Ministry National and of Board Technology, Federal Ministry of Health, Federal

Agriculture, for

National

University and

Commission, the National

Technical

Education

Commission for Colleges of Education will also have roles to play in galvanizing the efforts of research institutes under them with a view to linking them with the industry through the agency so engaged for this purpose.

Most

State

Governments

apart

from

funding

their

state

universities, who are expected to carry out research activities from such fund that they receive, do not have any dedicated plan to engage in specific research efforts that are aimed at finding solutions to cogent and imminent challenges in our environment. Three issues are of concern: 1)It is time that government begin to demand for result of research efforts being embarked upon by the universities to which fund had been given. 2) Funds for research should no longer be placed under recurrent expenditure, which had given room for most chief executives to via such money meant for research into and running the administration Rather, of their as a

various matter

universities of policy

institutes. henceforth

government the fund

should

allocate

for

research as a capital item for which every chief executive must be held accountable. 3) State Governments should in addition to the above suggestion, provide for funding specific research in collaboration with the private sector (if they are interested) in solving challenges that are peculiar to their domain.

For instance, in Lagos State, there had been recurring issues of flooding all over the state. This should be a great concern to the state and as palliative measures are provided by the state, it is expected that the state will fund research that would investigate the cause and find appropriate lasting solutions to the menace. Osun State, where I reside is another example. The state is currently focused on agriculture as the fulcrum of its six-point agenda. The idea is that the state government should institute and fund research, taking advantage of the several universities within the state to address pertinent issues

relating to the areas of agriculture for which the state intend to liberate its own economy.

CONCLUSION

Finally, research can be brought back to take its pride of place in the way this country is administered if only the government will provide more fund for research, demand accountability for fund provided and encourage, through the establishment of

appropriate structure, the active participation of the industry by engaging researchers with the challenges they face in

business and manufacturing and also providing counterpart fund to carry out research works. Researchers on their part need to be more dedicated to their work and focus on the assignment rather than the bread and butter (economic incentives)

attached to carrying out researches.

REFERENCES Cetto A. M. (1998). Scientific Journal Publishing in the

Developing World, Lesotho Coasted, Chennas, India. Millar, J. & Senker & J. (2000). International Approaches Policy to in

Research

Policy

Funding:

University

Research

different National Contexts. University of Sussex, SPRU. Oehmke, James F. (1995). The Impact of Social Science Research on Michigan Gross Farm Income. Unpublished Working Paper,

Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan. Olukoju, Ayodeji. (2002).The Crisis of Research and Academic

Publishing in Nigerian Universities: The Twenty-First Century & Beyond. 28th Annual Spring Symposium African Universities in the Twenty-First Century. University of Illinois/CORDESRIA, Dakar, Senegal.

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Shehu A. J. (2004). Educational Research in Nigeria: Some Local Forces inhibiting Progress and the Way Forward. Unpublished Paper. University of Ilorin, Nigeria. World Bank. (1999). World Bank Development Report 1998/99:

Knowledge for Development, Oxford. World Bank. (2002). Constructing Knowledge Societies: New

Challenge for Tertiary Education. The World Bank, Washington.

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