The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mojisola Meranda has committed a bill to establish the State’s research trust fund to a sub-committee of the House.
Meranda also emphasised the need for tertiary institutions to partake in effective research works for the benefit of the state.
This was as the bill, sponsored by a member of the House, Hon. Gbolahan Yishawu, scaled second reading on the floor of the House.
The proposed law is aimed at creating a ‘state research trust fund for the allocation, management and administration of the trust fund and for connected purposes’.
Supporting the bill, lawmakers praised the sponsor and noted that it would help advance the state. Yishawu told his colleagues that the bill was important as it would help drive innovation, economic growth, and technological advancement in the state.
According to him, Lagos, as Nigeria’s economic hub, cannot afford to lag in scientific and technological development.
He argued that a well-structured research and development funding system would enhance governance, stimulate industrialisation, and position the state as a leader in innovation.
He also stressed that the bill would touch every facet of Lagos.
Dissecting the bill, some of the lawmakers raised concerns over taxation but agreed that the bill was important. Hon. Noheem Adams stressed that funding would help to provide a veritable opportunity for researchers to come up with results that help societies.
According to him, when Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, ‘it would have been difficult to visualise that a day would come when we will all have a handset in our pockets’.
The ad-hoc committee is expected to fine-tune the bill ahead of further processes leading to its passage.
