The Pro-Chancellor/Chairman of the Governing Board of the Federal University of Lokoja, FUL, distinguished Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, SAN, has emphasised the importance of research and innovation in the current era where knowledge drives economic growth and development.
Ndoma-Egba, a former Senate Leader, made the emphasis at the second edition of the Research Fair/Exhibition included as part of the activities for the eighth Convocation Ceremony of the 13-year-old university.
The activities mapped out for FUL’s eighth convocation ceremony commenced on Monday, October 21, 2024, with a press conference by the Viceh Chancellor, VC, Prof. Olayemi Akinwumi. The main convocation is scheduled to hold on Saturday, October 26, 2024.
Ndoma-Egba said, “In any society today, it’s research and innovation. It is the heart of any institution. And for me, this is gratifying that even though it’s a modest start, it’s a significant start that will take us places. Today, we are in an age of the knowledge economy. So, no society can develop devoid of research. You cannot develop without research. Research is the engine room of the knowledge economy. And innovation is the showroom of that knowledge economy. So, you need both the engine room and the showroom for society to develop today.”
Declaring the Research Fair/Exhibition open, the legal luminary said, “It is my pleasure to stand before you to declare open this remarkable research fair and exhibition, one of the key events marking the eighth convocation ceremony of our esteemed institution, the Federal University of Lokoja. I have been told that this is the second edition of this exhibition. And I am particularly delighted that this is the first I am witnessing as Chairman/Pro-Chancellor.”
He applauded the VC, Prof. Akinwumi, a distinguished Professor of History, working hard to take FUL to greater heights, for initiating the Research Fair, describing him as a man full of ideas and energy.
He added, “In my opening remarks when I assumed office as the Pro-Chancellor, I said my dream, ambition, wish and prayer is to make Federal University of Lokoja, not one of the best, but the best, so that any time you say university, the first thought that comes to your mind is Federal University of Lokoja.
“And how do we achieve this? This is an academic environment. How is an Ivory Tower determined? It is the output. The intellectual output. Your research, the publications, the innovations and the inventions. That is what makes a university.
“I have had the privilege in my lifetime to have attended two of the most iconic institutions of the world. I have done programmes in Harvard University. I have done programmes in Stanford University. And between these two universities, they have more than 50 per cent of the Nobel Prizes. Just between two universities. So, I want this university (FUL) to produce so many accolades in research, invention and innovation.
“Now, part of what we intend to do to facilitate research, innovations and publications, is to begin to guide us through the process of accessing foreign grants. Because you cannot do research, you cannot innovate, you cannot invent if you don’t have the environment and resources to do so. Therefore, it is a combination of environment and resources.
“While we struggle to create the necessary environment here in the Federal University of Lokoja, let us at the same time begin to open up access to the millions of dollars that are out there waiting to be accessed.”
In his remark, the VC, Prof Akinwumi, said he introduced the Fair/Exhibition recognising the significance of research as rightly highlighted by the Pro-Chancellor, and to create an avenue for the university to be advertised and marketed in respect of its research efforts.
He said he was filled with joy upon the appointment of Ndoma-Egba as the Pro-Chancellor of FUL, knowing his capacity and worth as an intellectual and influential politician who will bring his enormous wealth of experience to bear on the growth and development to the university, adding that the school was lucky to have him.
The research exhibition featured research breakthroughs from different faculties and departments in FUL, other institutions, manufacturing companies, and a display of some mineral resources in Kogi State.
