By GABRIEL DIKE and JET STANLEY MADU
One of the considerations to qualify an academic to be admitted into the Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL) is the number of researches such a candidate must have conducted. And very significantly too, is the quality of those researches.
Over time and even till date, most research findings that address even Nigeria’s problems in diverse areas still stream in from outside the country. Hence, there is an apparent docility of Nigerian researchers and a seemingly lack of impact of research findings by Nigerian scholars.
On this, a Professor of History at the Osun State University, Professor Siyan Oyeweso has heaped the blame at the doorstep of Nigeria’s policymakers.
Recently, Oyeweso and the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Alhaji Abubakar Rasheed was among other scholars inducted into the Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL) as Fellows. The induction was conducted by the Academy President, Professor Olu Obafemi.
The NUC secretary, who spoke for other recipients, expressed the inductees’ appreciation to the academy, promising that they will continue to make contributions to the goals, purpose and aspirations of the founding fathers of the academy.
Commenting on the theme for this year which is Patriotism, he said it is apt for a worrisome incoherent period as now. He disclosed that collaborations with the Academy to attain excellence and high standards in the nation’s universities are uppermost in his unalloyed drive to reposition the NUC for the fulfillment of its objective.
He expressed the hope that the academy would continue to provide guidance, cooperation in the task of committing the NUC to raising the standard of university education in Nigeria. “Nigeria of the 21st century, imports by information and knowledge is the sole imperative of growth and development”, he noted.
Answering questions from the media shortly after the induction, Oyeweso lauded the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) for ensuring that the tentacles of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) was spread beyond just the provision of infrastructure.
He observed that today, TETFUND has made provision for research funds. However, even though there is a gap in accessing these grants by scholars for whom they were designed, he contended that, “we must thank ASUU for making a case for TETFUND grants to be open.”
He stated also that the fund is now open for all universities, and has impacted greatly on Nigerian universities in infrastructure, research etc.
Oyeweso asserted that in the absence of TETFUND, “most of the proprietors of universities can hardly fund universities, either in terms of infrastructure, in terms of research laboratory, in terms of ICT, even payment of salaries. TETFUND has impacted in provisions of classroom, in provision of libraries, in provision of ICT, infrastructure, even in provision of research grants. Today, many scholars who otherwise, would not have been able to fund their Masters of PhD are being sponsored oversea and Nigerian universities through TETFUND”.
Further, he explained that TETFUND grants are being deployed for international networking and conferences as well as to fund team research designed to solve particular problems in the society. “There are groups for instance, collaborating on Biotechnology, on Nanotechnology; people collaborating on select researches in the Humanities across Nigerian universities. But, most researches and projects, when they’re completed, the policy makers just dump them by the wayside. And they start all over again”.
Oyeweso described his induction into NAL as a beautiful experience and a call to duty, a renewal of faith in academic discipline, academic in academic integrity. And the need for scholars in the Humanities to ensure greater relevance in the society.
He reeled out some of the considerations that facilitate admittance into the Nigerian Academy of Letters hall of fame.
“Not every professor can become a Fellow and not every professor can become even a member. There are strict guidelines for it. For you to become Fellow, the minimum criteria that that you must have been a professor for about five years and served as a dean of faculty for about. For you to become a Fellow, you must have been a professor for at least 10 years. And then, the teaching, research experience of candidate”.
Oyeweso further explained that t currency of the studies is paramount. And findings must be impactful to the society and publications of recent findings also important. “
It’s about the quality of publication and even is currency. The quality of research will have to be determined first and foremost, by scientific criteria. So, it’s not about the quality of research, it’s about the impact of the research on society, on policy formulation and policy executions.
He encouraged his fellow inductees to look at the tradition and the existing best practices of NAL and ensure that they comply and raise the bar.