Regina Otokpa 
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has insisted that the inauguration of the draft committee on the National Research and Development Foundation (NRDF) Bill would create a new beginning for the country. Executive Secretary of TETFund, Prof. Suleiman Bogoro, who made this known at the fourth edition of the virtual Global Engagement Series: “The Paradigm Shift, with focus on the Institutionalisation of R&D in Nigeria’s Engineering, Technology and Material Sciences Sector,” said there was great hope for Nigeria once the Bill was signed.
“A new vista is emerging in our country that gives hope that we could do something right and we proceed to define the knowledge economy through institutionalization of R&D, he said. The lead presenter, Prof. Mosto Onouha, harped on the need to strengthen the curricula in technological entrepreneurship in universities and polytechnics nationwide, as well as the linkages between the academia and the industry through the establishment of intellectual property technological transfer offices.
He also said that: “There is therefore, an urgent need for our nation to establish an institutional framework for funding and management of R&D activities for its sustainable development,” saying that we must applaud the executive secretary of TETFund for the current effort to do something about the situation.
