Three Nigerians have been presented with academic fellowship awards under the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) -Industry Technology Transfer Fellowship (NITTF) Scheme.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the beneficiaries, Ojo Joshua, Ruth Adeseye and Bature Hafsat, were also presented with N1.5 million each, as part of the academic award.
In her remarks, on Wedneaday in Abuja, the Director-General, NOTAP, Dr Obiageli Amadiobi, said the scheme was borne out of the urgent need to bridge the wide gap between research and industry.
She said that NOTAP, as a regulator of technology transfer from foreign countries into Nigeria, observed the disconnection between industries and the academy which resulted in the absence of value creation.
According to her, NOTAP initiated key programmes such as the NOTAP Industry Technology Transfer Fellowship (NITTF) to alleviate and address these challenges and gaps”.
“The programme serves as a platform through which industries will voluntarily invest resources to support the development of specialised personnel, strategic skills and provision of key technology acquisition in tertiary institutions,” Amadiobi said.
She said the initiative aims at awarding fellowships to qualified research-oriented individuals to pursue a 4-year doctoral degree in any field relevant to the industry needs and considered strategic to national development.
“NOTAP, in the implementation of this programme, is partnering with industries having technology transfer agreements registered.
“NITTF is administered by NOTAP and its partners with the objectives of creating a pool of knowledgeable and skilled manpower that will facilitate technology acquisition, assimilation and diffusion,’’ Amadiobi said.
She also expressed appreciation to the sponsoring companies, Nesle Nigeria Plc and PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc for sponsoring the 3 awardees in the pursuit of their PhD research.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (FMSTI), Mrs Esusbana Nko-Asanye, said the presentation was a demonstration of FG’s commitment to promoting and safeguarding intellectual contributions of Nigeria’s education sector.
Nko-Asanye, represented by Mr Dahiru Azuftama, the acting Director, Technology, Acquisition and Adaptation FMSTI, said the scheme was aimed at providing an efficient process for the acquisition and domestication of foreign technology.
“NOTAP-Industry partnership initiative addresses the weaknesses and huge gaps in the process of acquiring and adapting imported technologies into Nigeria in 2009,” Nko-Asanye said.
He said the NITTF scheme would help Nigeria leapfrog into the technologically advanced nations of the world.h
According to him, the NITTF is one of the schemes and it is aimed at providing an efficient process for the acquisition and domestication of foreign technology.
“The scheme will serve as a platform through which industries will voluntarily support the process of building the needed critical mass of highly skilled knowledge workers.
“It also supports the development of specialised personnel, strategic managerial skills and provision of key technology acquisition process which are industrial Research and Development (R&D) capacities and capabilities,’’ he said.
One of the beneficiaries, Ruth Adeseye, a Phd student from Federal University of Technology, Akure, whose research area is food processing, expressed gratitude to her sponsors, Nestle Nigeria Plc.
She said her research would help food availability and convenience, allow consumers eat a greater variety of foods while ensuring food safety and personalised nutrition and health.
“I am grateful for the financial aid which will allow me to focus more on my research studies towards preserving nutritional quality of Nigerian foods,’’ she said.
