Rislan

  Dear Nigeria, can we leave our universities public or make them public/private?   Political changes have compelled our Nigerian politicians to be ardent supporters of privatization. We were slow to the party, but at least we are catching up. Then suddenly, we started reversing the trend before it reached the universities. There was no appetite anymore for privatizing public institutions. Apparently, the appetite is back; this time, our ivory towers' heads are on the guillotine. It was just a matter of time. It is a well-established belief that in the private sector, the customer is king. At the core of its profit-making venture, private entities have great efficiency and better customer service guarantee. In contrast, public institutions are more often than not bogged down by political imperatives, inefficiency, and intermittent strikes. In a fast-paced world where decisions are made, and goals are accomplished in record time, can we afford to be unnecessarily held bac...

Nigeria, a country of 206 million people, is larger than Russia (population: 144 million), and by 2050, it is expected to pass the U.S.A. as the third most populous country on the planet. The population is primarily youthful and increasingly digital-savvy. Fortunately, Nigeria’s tech ecosystem is the envy of many of its continental rivals. Its startups attracted up to 35% of funding for African startups 2020, and Lagos has become the vibrant center of all things African tech. It was no accident that in late August of 2016, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a surprise visit to Lagos. Nigeria is viewed as the “Silicon Savannah”— a rising power in the tech world. Today, Nigeria is home to the second-best Ruby developers globally and has become Africa’s most significant source of Venture capital (VC) investment for tech startups. Currently, Nigerian startups excel in e-commerce, media, and mobile money transfer. According to the Nigerian...

Professor Mohammed Faguji Ishiyaku Executive Director, Institute for Agricultural Research Samaru, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria Theme: Research for National Food Security And Economic Growth 29th March 2021  Venue: Mamman Kontagora Square, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria   Protocol: 1.     It is a rare privilege and honour for me to stand to address this distinguished audience and to witness another Opening Ceremony of the Annual Research Review and Planning Meeting of the almost a century-old IAR. Last year, this event could not hold owing to the dreaded coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which began with a partial to total lockdown of activities in the country and globally. In compliance with government directives and our desire to safeguard our teeming partners and stakeholders from unnecessary exposure to risks, we deemed it fit to put on hold this important activity in 2020. 2.     This year by sheer benevolence of the Almighty, we a...

  Professor Mohammed Faguji Ishiyaku                                                                  Executive Director, Institute for Agricultural Research Samaru, Paper presented at the Ahmadu Bello University Agric-Vet Complex Symposium on Agriculture at Mamman Kontagora Square, on The Need For Paradigm Shift In Agricultural Research As Panacea To Attaining Optimum Economic Diversification; 29th March 2021   Preamble Nigeria, our dear Nation is blessed with numerous resources, among which fertile arable land and a large expanse of territorial water dot our landscapes from Bayelsa to Sokoto, from the Mandara mountains to Obudu mountains; from the plains of Yusafari to the Jos plateau. Agriculture is indispensable in our dear Nation's economy, yet we have moved from a net e...

 Muhammad Rislan ymahmad@abu.edu.ng The Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR) Samaru has obtained the green light for the registration and release of highly productive varieties of maize, sweet sorghum, and cotton in Nigeria. The approval was granted at the just concluded 29 th meeting of the National Varietal Release Committee (NVRC), through the National Committee on the Naming, Registration and Release of Crop Varieties, Livestock Breeds and Fisheries held at the National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB), Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. At the meeting, five improved maize varieties,   SAMMAZ 59, SAMMAZ 60, SAMMAZ 61, SAMMAZ 62 and SAMMAZ 63, with an average yield potential above 5.0 tons/hectare and tolerant to maize streak virus, rust, leaf blight, and curvularia leaf spot were approved for registration and released. The varieties, SAMMAZ 59 and SAMMAZ 60 have an outstanding characteristic of high pro-vitamin A content of 16.3 μg/g which are...