Scientists lead Nigeria

Nigerian researchers are optimistic this week that science funding and infrastructure will improve after two former scientists were elected to lead the country."We are hopeful," said Oyekanmi Nash, program director of the West African Biotechnology Worshops Series, based at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria. "We are happy that for the first time in Nigeria's history we have a president and vice president who are both scientists." Last week, President Umar Musa Yar'Adua, a chemistry graduate, and Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, who holds a PhD in zoology, took office after elections that were peaceful but clouded by accusations of corruption.Nigerian science has already made significant gains over the past eight years under the presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo, Nash said. "Even before this election, the previous government had been re-awakening funding to science and technology. We hope that [the new leaders] will advance that work." For example, in 2004, the Nigerian science minister Turner Isoun told the newsletter of the Third World Academy of Sciences that the national government's budget for scientific research rose from about 1.5 billion Nigerian Naira (NGN) in 1998 (about US$11.5 million at 2004 exchange rates) to 5 billion NGN (over US$38 million) in 2004. The Economist estimates the Nigerian gross domestic product in 2006 to be US$116 billion. Oliver Ezechi, chief research fellow at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research in Lagos, agreed that continued expansion was important. "What we hope is that they will build on what has already been put in place in the past," he told The Scientist.But John Mugabe, science advisor to the New African Partnership for Economic Development, based in South Africa, was somewhat less optimistic about Yar'Adua's immediate impact on research. "Nigeria is lucky to have a scientist as president," he said, "but progress depends on a number of other factors."Without the support of the parliament, state governors, and the Nigerian people, Yar'Adua and Jonathan will have a hard time building science capacity, Mugabe said. "The challenge for the president and Nigerian scientists is to build a public constituency for science," he told The Scientist. "The legislature and political parties must be champions for science, technology and innovation, otherwise nothing will change."For Nigerian scientists, even basic improvements would help. One immediate priority for the new leaders should be to stabilize power supplies, Nash said. "The current [unstable] supply (and the attendant cost for back-up generators) is not good enough for scientific research and development, including industrialization," he said in an Email. "Fortunately, the president has put the subject as a national emergency." Beyond that, it would be nice to see an initial focus on infrastructure and equipment for research, Ezechi added. "We have a lot of scientists who are trained," but can't work due to lack of facilities, he said. Nigeria's public universities have been closed since late March, due to an ongoing strike by lecturers demanding improved working conditions.More immediately, Nigeria's new leaders will be dealing with a host of other problems, including attacks on oil facilities in the Niger delta, and a dispute with drug firm Pfizer over the deaths of children given meningitis drugs during a trial in 1996. The Nigerian state of Kano, where the deaths occurred, has brought criminal charges against the company, as has the federal attorney general's office. The suits center on claims the company secretly imported an untested drug and tested it on vulnerable Nigerian citizens. Pfizer has denied the claims and said it conducted the trial in an ethical manner.Ezechi said he wasn't sure the courts were the right place to address the dispute with Pfizer. "I would prefer a government-mediated resolution," he said. "Going to court can drag on for several years."Stephen Pincock mail@the-scientist.comLinks within this articleS. Pincock, "The long journey home," The Scientist, June 1, 2006. http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/23579Oyekanmi Nash http://www.aecom.yu.edu/prasadlab/people.htmlS. Babalola, "In with the new: Nigeria's 'science' president," SciDev.net, May 29, 2007. 'http://www.scidev.net/gateways/index.cfm?fuseaction=readitem&rgwid=4&item=Features&itemid=609&language=1"Science in Nigeria," TWAS newsletter, 2004. 'http://www.ictp.trieste.it/~twas/pdf/NL16_3-4_PDF/10-Isoun_49-52_lo.pdfThe Economist Country Briefings: Nigeria http://www.aecom.yu.edu/prasadlab/people.htmlOliver Ezechi http://www.the-scientist.com/supplementary/html/53268/1.htmlJ. Mugabe, "Moving African science forward," The Scientist, January 2006. http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/23584/E. Edukugho, "Nigeria: Obasanjo dares ASUU says, no-work-no-pay," Vanguard, May 24, 2007 http://allafrica.com/stories/200705240176.htmlJ. Stephens, "Pfizer faces new charges over Nigerian drug test," Washington Post, June 2, 2007. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/01/AR2007060102197.html

Scientists lead Nigeria

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