FG Partners UNDP to Promote Innovation in Nigerian Universities

By Micheal Chukwuebuka

The United Nations Development Program, (UNDP), is supporting public Universities in Nigeria by building facility to enhance research and innovation in various sectors of the economy for sustainable development

Minister of Education Dr. Tunji Alausa inaugurated the edifice at the Nasarawa State University Keffi and tasked universities to prioritize research that will address societal challenges.

Situated at the Nasarawa State University Keffi is the mining technology and resource innovation pod also known as Unipod, built and donated to the school by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

The centre is to support young engineers, geo scientists and entrepreneurs to work with researchers and industry players to develop solutions for Nigeria’s mining sector.

With more than forty commercially viable solid minerals in the country, many which are deposited in Nasarawa state, the missing link is the domestic innovation infrastructure to convert the resources into industrial capability, trained talent and scalable enterprise hence the establishment of the centre.

From safer and efficient extraction technologies to mineral processing innovation and start up enterprise development, the centre seeks to capture value at every point in the mining chain

So far seven of these centres have been established across public Universities in the country with each anchored on development priorities of its host region.