Fashola: FG Rapidly Improving Infrastructure
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, at a recent forum where he was inaugurated Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Research Foundation by the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, appraised some of the policies of the federal g
What does the word ‘Research’, mean to you?
As I prepared to attend the national workshop titled ‘Strengthening Health Research Capacity’, I took time, as I always do when I am confronted by such challenges, to look up the ordinary meaning and definition of Research, just to be sure that I am not getting myself into trouble; and what I found is quite interesting. It talks about a systemic investigation and study of materials and sources to establish facts and reach new conclusions. Very simple, and I think this is what we have done all the time in the way we do things. The way we wear our clothes have changed over time and the way our women wear their hair have also changed over time. And there is a lot that is happening in research; whether it is about how roads are built or how houses are built, research ultimately has to do with our quality of life. And to that extent, I think Professor Ibrahim Abubakar who spoke on, “The Case for Strengthening and Supporting Research in Nigeria” (at the Workshop) has made the most compelling case about why we must research.
But I think one compelling case that I want to add is that, whether it is a business case, political case or quality of life case, what’s most crucial is the one I call “What you know” case. I grew up in an era when what you knew was more important than what you owned and I think it is that era that we must recreate. We must go back to that era if we must develop in a consistent manner; because it is only what we know that can define our quality of life, more than what we own. Some people own so much and eat poorly; and they eat all of the wrong things and before we know it, they have, by their own choices, out of what they own but without knowledge, shortened their own life-expectancy. I think we should go back to that era and remember that it is people who ask questions that get knowledge. For example, can man live forever? What will life be like if we live for 200 years? And people are already asking such questions. What will artificial intelligence be like? We call it artificial intelligence, but it is affecting our lives. So, with such intelligence, what will our lives be like?
How has the Buhari administration contributed to research?
Let me say that what the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) is doing fits very well into the Buhari Plan and the Buhari Plan seeks to do so many things, not the least of which is to invest in the Nigerian people. And that is well stated in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) and if you have not read it yet, I entreat you to do so. It is addressing first, our infrastructure on a rapid and committed scale; committing more resources on Infrastructure, budgeting N8 trillion when the price of oil is lower than $100 per barrel, as against ‘yesterday’ when we were budgeting N4trn when the price of oil was $100 per barrel. The Buhari Plan seeks to achieve self-sufficiency for us in many things. You already know about Agriculture and grains, wheat, rice, soya beans and so on. What that plan has achieved is that, instead of spending $5 million every day to import rice, we are now growing the rice here.
Some of us who know the quality of rice that we import here will tell you that some of that rice did not get here the year they were made. They would have been bagged several years before; and that is another area of research; to look at how that five-year old rice that we have eaten for several decades could affect the quality of our existence here. The Buhari administration is also committed to defining production of certain basic vaccines in Nigeria through the instrumentality of the Ministry of Health. Again, that is the level of self-reliance that we are already embarking on. And therefore, it should be no difference that the Buhari Plan would be seriously affiliated to the NIMR plan that seeks to reposition Nigeria as a global player in the field of research, particularly in Medicine and by extension, the human being and his quality of life. So, I think this is a partnership that was long overdue and in which I am glad to be a part. What this will do is that, for every breakthrough that we achieve, what we do actually is that we are projecting ourselves to the global stage; that we have become a force to be reckoned with.
Has there been enough boost for the competitive spirit in the Nigerian society lately?
And why I know that these things will happen sooner than later is that no field of endeavour that Nigerians choose to play that they have not been competitive. In Sport, we are competitive when we choose to play. In the field of technology, film, music or in the Entertainment Industry, once we have chosen to play, we are always competitive and are always successful. So, as we now decide to play in the field of Medical Research, I have no doubt in my mind that we will be competitive and successful.
What is your recipe for how Nigeria can advance easily in its Research Plan?
Now, it seems to me that we have made a very clear case for funding in order to promote research. But I think the case we must put forward first is the Plan. What is the research plan? In what areas are we interested in starting? What are the short-term goals? What are the medium-term areas and what are the long-term plans? I will be interested in asking the Director General (of the NIMR) to develop a 10-year plan with the objective: what is possible without guarantees? Because I know there are no guarantees in this business; and what the budget will be doing. Once there is a good plan, it will be easy to find the money, because money follows a good plan. If we can do that, then my optimism is at a very high rate.
How can the NIMR key into the ongoing infrastructure renewal momentum?
I will like say first, that NIMR is a very old institution with a long history. So the institution already exists and whatever may have been the situation, it is for us to get our work done and move the institution forward. It is you and I who will make NIMR what it will become in the future. I will like to be advised as we begin this partnership, as to what infrastructural needs of the NIMR are. Does it have laboratories and equipment and facilities that are comparable to that global patent, against which it seeks to compete? If we must compete in the global field of Medical Research, we must equip ourselves adequately. In that regard, I will be able to share my thoughts about how first to deliver the infrastructure that supports the institute, to achieve its objectives. There are already steps taken and being taken by the Buhari administration under the ERGP, which I call the Buhari Plan. One of the things being done through my Ministry is the intervention in institutions of higher learning, especially Federal Universities. Today, we have completed an Energy Audit for 37 Federal Universities in the country. We have approved the award of the first phase of nine universities to be provided with their own electricity so that they will be totally reliant on themselves and provide 24-hour electricity for themselves. We have done this in collaboration with the Vice-Chancellors of the universities. We do not have enough money to start everything at once, but we have started nine. At this moment, they are in various stages of procurement: either preparing the sites or the equipment or clearing the equipment. So, in a few months from now, we will begin to see uninterrupted power in those universities.
Simultaneously, we are also intervening in the transport infrastructure of these universities. At this moment, we are undertaking major road constructions and rehabilitation in 14 federal universities and some of those universities include the University College Ibadan, University of Benin, University of Nigeria, Nsukka and others. That is going on without a lot of noise. So those who say the budget for Education is a certain percentage, must factor in the budget in Power and the budget in roads.
I will close with a firm commitment that, the only thing you can get from me is my very best, an endeavour to succeed.