ABU Partners with UI Centre for Bioethics to Host High-Level Research Integrity Training

The College of Medical Sciences, Ahmadu Bello University, has successfully hosted an institutional training on the responsible conduct of research. 

The two-day training, held from 1st - 2nd June, 2026, was in collaboration with the Centre for Bioethics and Research (CBR), University of Ibadan. 

The event took place at the Africa Centre of Excellence on New Pedagogies in Engineering Education (ACENPEE), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. 

The training, an intensive face-to-face course, was delivered under CBR's scale up research ethics and research integrity (SURER) programme, supported by the United States National Institute of Health (NIH) grant. 

It was designed to align with the NIH research-integrity requirements and other major funding agencies. 

A total of 39 persons, with a deliberate emphasis on health research, participated in the training. 

The participants, mostly from the College of Medical Sciences, are expected to be champions of responsible research practice within their respective departments after completion of the training. 

The training is expected to advance several of ABU's strategic priorities by strengthening institutional research credibility through cross-disciplinary capacity building in research integrity. 

This is in addition to supporting compliance and competitiveness with the requirements of internationally funded research programme. 

It is geared towards embedding a culture of integrity by training Departmental and College leadership who will model and enforce responsible practice. 

Furthermore, it is expected to align with ABU's mission to advance the frontiers of learning and produce high-quality and ethically sound research that meets the needs of Nigeria and the wider world. 

The training was delivered by a team of facilitators from the Centre for Bioethics and Research, University of Ibadan, led by Prof A. O. Adejumo. 

Prof Adejumo spoke on 'Data Falsification and Manipulation, Plagiarism and Data Fabrication, Harassment and a Safe Research Environment'. 

He was supported by Prof T. O Ogundiran, who made a virtual presentation on 'Data Management and Sharing, Scientific Integrity and Handling Research Misconduct, Research Collaboration'. 

Others, who supported the team lead, included Prof C. O. Ogulanna and Mr. O. J. Oyelade. 

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Adamu Ahmed, declared the training session open. 

Prof Ahmed, who was represented by the Director, Research and Innovation, Prof J.J. Maina, stressed the university's commitment to strengthening research integrity across all faculties. 

In his closing remarks, the Provost, College of Medical Sciences, Prof Dahiru Isma'ila Lawal, acknowledged the effort of the facilitators for the quality and relevance of the training. 

Prof Lawal expressed interest in future collaboration with the Centre for Bioethics and Research for further iterations of the course. 

The Provost had earlier led the facilitators and organisers on a courtesy call on the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Adamu Ahmed, who was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Administration, Prof Bello Sabo. 

The Vice-Chancellor said the team's visit to him reaffirmed ABU's leadership-level commitment to embedding responsible research practice as a core institutional value. 

He pledged the university's necessary cooperation and support, given that without ethics research would not have been possible in the first place. 

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Advancement, Research and Innovation, Prof Sanusi Aliyu Rafindadi, assisted the Vice-Chancellor in receiving the team. 

Others present at the courtesy call were Deputy Registrar, Malam Dalhatu Salihu and the Director, Research and Innovation, Prof J J Maina. 

They also included the Deputy Provost, College of Medical Sciences, Prof Abdurrahsheed Ibrahim; the Deputy Director, Research and Innovation, Prof Mohammed Auwal Ibrahim; and ABU Research Link, Dr M A Tolani.