African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja and the Nigerian Science Update has commenced moves to bridge the gap between the academia and the industry as stakeholders from the academia, government agencies, and the private sector gathered recently at the NNPC Hall of the African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja, for the First Quarterly Colloquium of The Nigerian Science Update.

The event which which has the theme “Effective Paradigms for the Commercialization of Research and Development Results in Nigeria,” tried to proffer solutions to the critical challenge of translating local scientific research into market-ready products for the industries, and national growth.

Delivering the keynote address, the President of AUST, Professor Azikiwe Peter Onwualu, FAS, said that while Nigeria possesses immense research talent across its universities and institutes, a vast majority of research outcomes fail to progress beyond academic publications and prototypes.

To bridge this gap, Professor Onwualu outlined five essential pillars namely, University-Industry Collaboration, Innovation Financing, Intellectual Property (IP) Protection, Entrepreneurship Ecosystems, Institutional Accountability: Measuring institutional success not just by publication counts, but by patents secured, technologies licensed, and jobs creation.

Furthermore, Professor Onwualu commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s establishment of the National Research and Innovation Council and Fund, recommending that a substantial portion of the fund be explicitly dedicated to financing research and commercialization.

The colloquium featured robust discussions and goodwill messages from prominent national science and technology agencies, including: National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN), Sheda Science and Technology Complex (SHETSCO) and the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NIBRRI).

The intellectual interaction shared the consensus that commercializing research is a collective responsibility requiring synchronized action among government bodies, academic institutions, financial houses, and private investors. Participants agreed that establishing clear accountability timelines and robust public-private frameworks that are pivotal to national development.