The Biotechnology Society of Nigeria (BSN) is calling on the federal and state governments to allocate funds for research in the country’s tertiary institutions and research institutes.
BSN President Prof. Sylvia Uzochukwu made this appeal during the 36th International Conference of the Society “Innovative Biotechnology for National Development; Role of Public- Private Partnership”, held at the Muhammad Indimi International Conference Centre, University of Maiduguri, in Maiduguri.
Uzochukwu stated that relying solely on the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) for research funding is insufficient, as it can only support a limited number of projects.
She maintained that university lecturers and researchers should not have to rely on their meagre salaries to fund their research endeavours and attend conferences.
“The sub-themes of the conference address food, agricultural, environmental, industrial, medical, marine, and Dark technology, as well as Bioinformatics among others. We have already carried out a traditional pre-conference workshop on Basic – vitro DNA Manipulation Techniques at the world class University of Maiduguri’s Biotechnology Centre.
“They will employ these techniques in their research for resolving Nigeria’s myriad of problems with food, health and the environment. The workshops are for the training and re-training of the scientists of tomorrow and their teachers in using the tools of in- vitro DNA manipulation which is at the core of the modern biotechnology revolution.
“It is those new tools and techniques that we owe the development of the COVID vaccines that marked the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“The training courses help to build human and institutional capacities in biotechnology for the country, to solve our problems with food security, affordable health care and a safe environment,” Prof. Uzochukwu said.
She expressed gratitude to the host, Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum, who was honoured with the BSN Achievers Award for creating a secure environment that allowed participants to attend the workshop.