By Dayo Adesulu

The danger of Nigeria losing the sum of eight million dollars  is over as the African University of Science and Technology, AUST,Abuja, has been declared ready for World Bank funding. The declaration  by the World Bank on Thursday, July 2, 2015 will see AUST as one of the 19 African Centres of Excellence (ACEs) and one of the 10 in Nigeria.

The Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Julius Okojie who disclosed this during a press conference in Abuja, confirmed that the university had fulfilled all outstanding requirements including signing of the performance contract, legal opinion on the performance contract, the partnership agreements, project accounts in line with the requirement of ACE and proper composition of the Project implementation team.

Okojie who noted that the declaration had put to rest the danger of Nigeria losing the sum of $8m meant for one of its 10 African Centres of Excellence, expressed satisfaction that not only did Nigeria retain its 10 centres, but also the specific programme, Pan-African Material Institute (PAMI) that won the ACE in AUST.

According to him, the programme which would use a system-based interdisciplinary approach to undertake training and research activities in the areas of materials for solar energy, health, water purification and affordable housing/infrastructure would also support the training of critical mass of PhD graduates and professionals from the industry, government, business and development partners that could contribute effectively to the development of West and Central Africa.

He urged the various teams to be focused on their areas of research as the programmes have the capacity to address not only Nigeria’s challenges but the entire Africa’s problems, tasking the universities to relentlessly pursue the goals and objectives of the project including meeting the demand for skills required for the development of the sub-region and strengthening the capacities of the best African universities the science-related disciplines, to enable them deliver high quality training and applied research.

The Executive Secretary reiterated the commitment of the NUC management and the ACE team towards the success of the project.

Giving a history of the institution, the Vice-President (Academics) of AUST, Professor Charles Chidume, informed the gathering that AUST, the first of the three Nelson Mandela Institutions, which were sponsored by the World Bank, was established to source and train talented young people from the African region and in particular, sub-Saharan Africa.

The institution, which offers strictly postgraduate programmes, was targeted at training these young people even those whose parents lacked the financial capacity to cater for their educational needs.

International journals

Chidume noted that AUST had an intensive master’s programme and a rigorous PhD programme, which require that students publish a minimum of two papers in high-level international journals before they were awarded PhD.

He stated that the university, which had so far, graduated more than 300 Master of Science students from over 19 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, had also graduated five PhD, while another six were expected to graduate by July, this year.

The Vice-President expressed gratitude to the NUC for its role in ensuring that AUST did not miss out on the opportunity to host the Centre of Excellence. He gave the assurance that with NUC’s support and the quality of staff on ground in AUST, the Pan-African Materials Institute (PAMI) would deliver on its mandate.

In his remarks, the Centre leader, Dr Akin Ojo, noted that PAMI’s goal was to develop materials for Africa’s advancement and train students who would make Nigeria a knowledge-based economy.

He stated that the project has three focal areas: Education, Research and Outreach. The Education component has a target to enrol about 50 PhD and 400 MSc students as well as host about 40 publications, within the project period of three  years. The expectation, he said, is that, in 10 years, the Centre would have achieved its aim of developing a critical mass of persons to drive a knowledge-based economy.

For the Research component, the Centre was concentrating on Energy, especially using nanotechnology to develop thin film solar cells, as an alternative for silicon solar cells, which is a more expensive option. It was also focusing on bio-synthesis of materials as well as multifunctional materials for building and water purification.

Co-Centre leader, Dr. Sola Odusanya stated that PAMI was committed to ensuring that research makes direct impact on the industry, which it hopes to achieve with the employment of its students in relevant sectors of the economy.

Relevant sectors

He noted that within the first half of 2015, the Centre had published 15 papers in high-impact journals, adding that the Centre was also focusing on solving problems associated with humans.

In the health sector, for instance, PAMI was focusing on cancer and cardiovascular diseases, two major causes of death among the youth. He added that the Centre was concentrating on early detection, using nanotechnology, as a means of reducing mortality rate. To achieve its aim, the Centre had established direct linkages with health institutes, research institutes and industry.

In a vote of thanks, the Deputy Executive Secretary II of the NUC, Mr. Ibrahim Dan’Iya, commended Okojie for providing the necessary support to the ACE project and for his commitment to moving the Nigerian University System (NUS) to greater heights.

He congratulated the 10 participating universities and called on them to not only see the project as a new opportunity to promote research but also ensure that the dividends of the project would serve to move humanity forward.