FG donates N100m equipment to FUTA, seeks private sector collaboration
The Federal Government has donated new chemical laboratory equipment worth N100 million, to the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State.
It was gathered that the laboratory was equipped with the Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy, which is the product of the research laboratory upgrade partnership between the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion and the PZ Cussons Nigeria Limited.
Inaugurating the equipment on the campus of the FUTA on Friday, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Geoffrey Nnaji, said the laboratory was upgraded by the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion in collaboration with a firm, the PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc.
Represented by the Director-General of NOTAP, Dr Obiageli Amadiobi, the minister called on the corporate organisations in the country to join hands with the government to upgrade the equipment in the universities across the country.
According to him, the equipment would boost practicals in the institution and enhance productivity among the varsity students. He commended the NOTAP and the PZ Nigeria for the gesture, explaining that one of the strategic partners of the NOTAP-Industry Initiative was PZ Cussons.
He explained that the agency was in partnership with the company in three initiatives namely -Technology Story Board, Industry Technology Transfer Fellowship and NOTAP-Industry research laboratory upgrade which, according to him, entails the upgrade of research laboratories in universities and research institutes.
Nnaji said, “The PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc has also upgraded additional five laboratories in the universities and each of these laboratories was upgraded at a cost of N100million and one of the beneficiary universities is the Federal University of Technology, Akure, which is the seventh upgraded chemical laboratory and the first in the South West geopolitical zone.
“At this juncture, I would like to call upon other industries to emulate this laudable gesture of PZ as I promise that PZ and other Industries who key into this initiative that their efforts will not go in vain. The ministry through NOTAP will find a legal way of reciprocating this gesture. I would also like to call on the benefitting institutions to put the equipment into judicious use.
“The equipment is crucial and the government alone cannot provide all these pieces of equipment, so in order to change the trajectory, NOTAP sought collaboration with the private sector to assist in this direction as part of their corporate social responsibilities to upgrade laboratories in Nigeria tertiary institutions with state of the art facilities under the triple helix model arrangement. At the moment, it is only PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc that has keyed into this initiative.”
The minister disclosed that the PZ Cussons had upgraded five laboratories in Modibo Adama University of Technology, Yola, the National Research Institute for Chemical Technology Zaria, the University of Calabar, the Alex Ekwueme University of Technology, Ndufu, Ebonyi State and the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi.
Earlier in her welcome remarks, the Vice Chancellor, Professor. Adenike Oladiji said the event “Celebrates the wonderful synergy between PZ Cussons Nigeria PLC and NOTAP as part of their corporate and social responsibilities to upgrade laboratories in Nigeria Tertiary Institutions.”
Oladiji, who was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic, Professor Taiwo Amos, assured the donors that the equipment will be maintained and kept in perfect working conditions and will be efficiently utilised for the benefits of teaching, learning and research in FUTA.
