Don condemns companies for funding BBN instead of academic research

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A University of Lagos professor, Chris Obisi, has warned that a chronic lack of funding for academic research is stunting innovation in Nigeria’s universities and urged corporate organisations to step in.

Obisi, who specialises in Employment Relations and Human Resource Management, raised the alarm while appearing on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday.

He said many research findings generated by universities sit idle because industry does not buy into or fund the work.

The don lamented that some companies were sponsoring Big Brother Naija but were reluctant to sponsor universities’ intellectual research.

“There should be more synergy between research, research outcomes, industry, and the university so that industry can be funding university and research outcomes, which some companies are not doing.

“It’s a shame, I don’t want to sound depressed. How can a company be sponsoring Big Brother but cannot fund research? How can a company be playing to the gallery but cannot fund research?

“This is a sort of misplaced priority, and that is why we are lagging,” he stated. Punch