UI VC Calls for Stronger Town-Gown Collaboration to Turn Scholarship into Shared Values

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Professor Kayode O. Adebowale, mni, FAS, fspsp, has called on industry, government and civil society to work more closely with the University to ensure that research outcomes translate into societal impact and shared values.

He made this call in an address delivered on his behalf by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships, Professor Simisola O. Akintola, at a Town-Gown Roundtable organized by the University of Ibadan Research Development (UI-RESDEV) Committee.

The theme of the Roundtable was: “Beyond the Gate: Translating Research into Societal Impact and Commercialization.”

Professor Adebowale said the task of both the Town and Gown was to dismantle the conceptual gate that keeps research and society as strangers to each other.

The Vice-Chancellor stated that the academia does not lack research ideas and called for the establishment of frameworks and incentives to connect scholarship with the market and policy.

Speaking in her capacity as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships whose office provides oversight functions on the UIRESDEV committee, Professor Simisola Akintola noted that research is not in shortage but translation is lacking. 

She also stressed that commercialization is not a betrayal of scholarship but its fulfillment explaining that when a laboratory discovery becomes a vaccine, when an agricultural innovation becomes a farmer's higher yield, or when an engineering solution becomes a functioning piece of public infrastructure, that is not the corruption of scholarship but scholarship finally arriving at its destination.  

She, therefore, urged the Town and the Gown to build together recommending that the industry brings capital, market discipline and the urgency of deadlines; government brings policy instruments and public infrastructure; civil society brings proximity to real need; while the university brings rigour, talent, and the discipline of inquiry.

"None of us can walk this road alone, and none of us should try to," she admonished.

Professor Akintola assured that the University of Ibadan had over the past months deliberately widened the gate by building the frameworks and partnerships that allow ideas to travel outwards and resources, expertise, and opportunity to travel in.

She urged participants at the Roundtable to produce a shared and honest inventory of what stands between them and the outcomes they all want.

The Director-General of the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission, Dr. Seye Oyeleye commended the University for the resources, effort, and thoroughness invested in the Roundtable. 

He said that the Roundtable speaks eloquently of an institution that understands that research findings just within the gate profit no one saying that research findings must be carried, deliberately and loudly, to the doorsteps of industry and society.

He also added that the Roundtable marked a deliberate reversal of the traditional order in which industry is invited into research only after its completion, stating that industry is now involved from inception.

Dr Oyeleye reiterated the vision of the DAWN Commission to make the South-West an industrial hub, drawing on the intellectual harvest of institutions like UI to power sustainable regional development. 

The Permanent Secretary and Inspector General of Education, Mrs Maria Olufunke Karunwi who represented the Oyo State Ministry of Education, noted that the future belongs not merely to those who generate knowledge but to those who transform knowledge into value.  

She noted that to build a sustainable culture of innovation, intentional changes must be driven.

She recommended that universities must expand metrics of success, integrate entrepreneurship, foster interdisciplinary work; while government and industry should engage universities as dynamic Research and Development engines, formulate policies, tax incentives, and funding structures that encourage commercial adoption of local research. 

"Let our laboratories become launchpads, our classrooms innovation centres, and our universities engines of economic progress, let our research become policy, technology, enterprise, and hope," she charged.

The Provost of the UI Postgraduate College, Professor K. M. Samuel said the theme of the Roundtable resonated profoundly with the mandate of the Postgraduate College.

In a goodwill message delivered on his behalf by Professor A. Tella, the Provost noted that as the hub of advanced scholarship in the University, the College is committed not only to producing high-quality Master and doctoral graduates, but also to nurturing research that addresses societal challenges, drives innovation, informs policy and above all, creates economic value. 

He stated that postgraduate education finds its fullest expression when knowledge generated in our laboratories, studios, libraries and field sites transcends the walls of the University to improve lives and transform communities.

He stated that the Postgraduate College had consistently demonstrated its commitment to fostering a vibrant research ecosystem where it showcases postgraduate research, engenders industry partnerships and expands pathways for research commercialisation.

Professor Samuel encouraged participants at the Roundtable to deepen the collaboration between the University of Ibadan and the society at large saying that this could be achieved by ensuring that research remains relevant, impactful and responsive to national and global development needs.

A keynote address was delivered by Dr. Olusola Saheed Ayoola, Founder of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Nigeria (RAIN).

He noted that as a nation, Nigeria is gifted saying that our potential shows daily in our universities, in our societies, in international competitions and institutional arenas.

He stated that what we do not have enough of are the structures that transport research out of the university into society - structures for deployment, and structures that turn knowledge into production. 

He advised that as a nation, we must unlearn, learn and relearn one central truth: a society can only do better when it deploys solutions researched and built to fit its own environment. 

The Honorary Treasurer of the Manufacturer Association of Nigeria, Mr Sunday Aboriomoh also made a presentation in which he reiterated the call for better collaboration between the Town and the Gown.

A breakout session based on the thematic areas of Health Sciences; Science and Technology; and Arts and Humanities enabled academic and industry players to interact at the Roundtable.