Four academies get N20 million grant for professional journals

The Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, on Monday in Abuja, gave a total grant of N20 million to four national academies for publication of professional journals to boost Research and Development (R & D).

Mr Onu said the four academies: Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS), Nigerian Academy of Engineering (NAE), Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL) and Nigerian Academy of Social Science (NASS), received a cheque of N5 million each.

The minister said the grant would assist the academies to produce journals that would fast track information dissemination of research findings toward national development.

He added that “we are making history today. It may be a small beginning, but this is a very important step to integrate all knowledge.

“In the past, we supported the Nigerian Academy of Science and the Nigerian Academy of Engineering. Today, we want to expand this by bringing in Nigerian Academy of Letters and Nigerian Academy Social Sciences.

“If you are solving a scientific problem, you need to also understand the environment. You also need to understand the relationship with human behaviours.”

Mr Onu further said the support was to demonstrate the readiness of the ministry toward supporting the academies’ future activities.

He said the grant was also to ensure that the national academies no longer depend on foreign funding for their activities.

He added that “we think that Nigeria has come of age to make sizeable contribution to your funding.”

The NASS President, Mosto Onuoha, who responded on behalf of the academies, thanked the minister, adding that the grant would be used well for the next production of journals.

He said “on behalf of the four grant recipients, we want to thank you for your thoughtfulness and concrete action.

“We want to thank you for this gesture. We will like to assure you that we will use the fund judiciously to ensure the next edition of our professional journals come out in time.”

(NAN)