Inauguration Of The Academic Advisory Committee Of The National Institute Of Policy & Strategic Studies, NIPSS

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REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AT THE INAUGURATION OF THE ACADEMIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF POLICY AND STRATEGIC STUDIES, NIPSS, AT THE STATE HOUSE ON THE 15^TH OF DECEMBER, 2022

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I thank you all for accepting to take up the assignment, the Academic Advisory Committee of NIPSS. Just as I had said earlier with respect to the Board of Trustees of the Endowment Fund, we are at a defining moment not just in global history but in the history of our own country and region.

The next few years will challenge everything that we know already and we will certainly give us more than enough opportunities to plan and be innovate.

Being on the academic advisory committee of NIPPS at this time is all by itself a challenge that our nation throws upon you because NIPPS is our foremost think-tank, it is where all our ideas and planning for the future will come from. The content of that is what the academic advisory committee is supposed to advise on. You are supposed to give NIPPS direction and be able to tell us what you think in the coming years will be important, not just because you are placed in this position, but also because if you do not direct and guide appropriately, a lot of resources would be wasted.

There are today, so many different things that can be researched upon but not all of those things are necessary for the future and crucial. In terms of the allocation of resources, it would be important for the academic advisory committee to tell us the direction they think we ought to be going, this is what you ought to be paying attention to because this is what is important for now.

I believe your role is strategic and important in developing the work of NIPPS from now on. As an academic myself, I think what goes into the content of teaching, research and instruction are what will define the sorts of results we will get.

I’d like to urge you to think outside the box as we face the challenges of the future. I’d want you to look at what other Think-Tanks are doing, if one just researches what is going on all over the world, it is incredible how much is happening. It is also important for us as Nigerian academics and professionals to define what we need in our own country. I was surprised to find that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the sheer amount of work and research that was being done locally with very little funding.

The early genomic research on COVID-19 establishing the genomic sequence of the virus was done in Ede at the Africa Genomic Research Centre by Professor Happi and his team. Another group of people were investigating Ivermectin as a prophylactic and they had resources and they made presentations to us and we saw some incredible things they were doing.

Even a vaccine was being researched and it was taken seriously by W.H.O. There is a lot going on and a lot of that isn’t being made much attention to because it is not dramatic enough or the sorts of things politicians pay attention to. I want to say that there is so much that is going on locally and so much that can be encouraged.

I would like to urge you to look at what we are doing locally and how that can be enhanced and how NIPSS can be a champion of local ideas and research as well as paying attention to what is happening internationally and globally in research and ideas.

On that note I would like to mention the names of the members of the academic advisory board; Prof. John Laah, Prof. Yemisi Fawole, Prof. Fatima Akilu, Amb. Dr Martin Uhomoibi, Prof. Abiodun Alao, Major- General IM Idris and Prof. Ike Nwachukwu.

Thank you all for accepting to be members and I hereby inaugurate the Academic Board of NIPPS for the benefit of all Nigerians and for the glory of the Almighty God.