The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and Nigeria LNG (NLNG) have announced a joint investment of US$9 million to establish professorial research chairs at six Nigerian universities. The funding, part of the Nigerian Content Research and Development (NC‑R&D) Professorial Chair Endowment Programme, will see each institution receive US$1.5 million to create a specialised chair focused on industry‑relevant research priorities.
The six universities receiving the endowments are the University of Ibadan (Oyo State), Rivers State University, Modibbo Adama University (Yola, Adamawa State), Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology (Kano State), the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (Enugu State) and the University of Abuja (Yakubu Gowon University, Abuja, FCT). The initiative is being implemented under the supervision of the NCDMB’s Planning, Research and Statistics Directorate.
At the kick‑off ceremony, NLNG Managing Director and CEO Adeleye Falade described the programme as an investment in Nigeria’s capacity to translate academic knowledge into practical solutions. In his keynote, “Reshaping Nigeria’s Future Through Innovation, Research and Capacity Development,” Falade highlighted the need for sustained research to improve operational efficiency, manage emissions, strengthen safety, maintain critical infrastructure and make industrial processes more sustainable. He also outlined a “triple helix” approach that would bring together government, industry and academia through specialised programmes, sabbaticals, exchange opportunities and joint development of postgraduate curricula.
Falade said the Rivers State University’s NLNG Research and Innovation Centre for Computer and Electrical Engineering (RICCEE) would act as the coordinating hub for the collaborations. He noted that partners such as Google, Cisco and MTN were already showing interest in supporting the initiative. “We have already gotten indications of other partners like Google, Cisco and MTN who are showing interest to support this initiative,” he said.
Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, welcomed the endowment as a strategic investment in Nigeria’s research and innovation ecosystem. He added that the programme complements the Board’s ongoing investments in research infrastructure, including the establishment of specialised R&D Centres of Excellence across the six universities. “Taken together, these interventions demonstrate the Nigerian oil and gas industry’s commitment to creating an integrated research ecosystem that connects academic expertise, modern research infrastructure, industry requirements and commercialisation opportunities,” he said.
Ogbe urged the beneficiary institutions to move from research for publication to research for application, and from academic innovation to industrial transformation. He emphasised that the chairs should generate commercially viable solutions, strengthen local technological capabilities and support industrial competitiveness. The University of Ibadan will focus on natural gas processing, pollution control and environmental management, while Rivers State University will concentrate on digital engine research.
<small>Source: The Sun Nigeria — read the original story there.</small>
