Fashola made the promise while disbursing grants to 31 beneficiaries whose research proposal had been approved by the Lagos State Research and Development Council.
The governor used the occasion to challenge a former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Maurice Iwu, to come up with a lucid proposal on his bitter kola theory for the cure of Ebola, saying the state government would be willing to provide funds for his research.
He explained that professors, Ph.D. holders and scholars are respected not because of their glittering titles but because of their intellect and what they have to offer the society.
The governor said, “I was curious about what was Prof. Maurice Iwu was doing with election if he was already doing research on how bitter kola can help cure some diseases. He should come back and do his work because really this is his core competence and if he is listening to me, I am challenging him that he will be able to reopen the frontiers of that research and present it to this organization.
“It is something that I am sure that we would be looking at. For me, our world is moving quickly and we must participate in it. We must be visible and active theatre of thinking and ideas”.
Fashola expressed regrets that when the country was faced with the problem of Ebola, none of the much talked about probable solutions came from Nigeria or Africa as a whole, noting that such a trying time presented opportunities for researchers and scholars to write their names in the good book of history.
“If you look at the last epidemic challenge that we faced, all the offers and solutions, ZMapp, Dan and all of the possible drugs were coming from the outside Africa where we have the problem itself and there are scientists here who carry all sorts of titles”, Fashola stated.
by Greenstarnetwork admin..
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