Sheriff Balogun in Abeokuta
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday identified four problems causing African scientists to under-perform in a fact-changing world.
The former president in his address at the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences in Honour of Late Professor Ali Al’Amin Mazrui in Addis Ababa, Ethopia and made available to journalists in Abeokuta, Ogun State stated that there was a severe under-investment of African governments and African private sector in science and technology infrastructure.
According to Obasanjo, when such investment was disaggregated by
region, North America has the highest while Africa has the least.
He said "in 2010, regional averages of the percentage of GDP devoted to
research and development activities in science, technology and
innovation are: 2.7% for North America; 0.7% for Latin America and the
Caribbean; 1.8% for Europe; 0.4% for Africa; 1.6% for Asia; and 2.2% for
Oceania.
"In 2012, the distribution of researchers per 1 million inhabitants
shows Africa being the least served. The data are expressed in full-time
equivalents (FTE), which are a measure of the actual volume of human
resources devoted to research and development (R&D).
“This is surely a backlash from the low investment in the sector. This
low level of investment translates to poor research laboratories,
inconsequential grants to support meaningful and context-relevant
research and unattractive welfare scheme to retain top-quality
scientists."
Obasanjo who noted that the second dimension to the problem was the
depreciating research skills of the young, up-and-coming generation of
scientists, said "today, many research institutes and universities in
Africa are increasingly populated by poorer-quality scholars relative to
what we had in the mid to the closing decades of the 20th century.
"I am sure members of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences who are
familiar with the trend in your flagship university - Addis Ababa
University - and others will find empirical support for this
observation”.
He said the third was a consternation of socio-cultural distractions of the African scientist pulling him or her away from the serious business of sciencing.
He added that "The typical scientist has a retinue of family (nuclear and extended) and friends that look up to him or her for financial and other forms of support induced by poverty which pervades the land.
"A land where there is scant social security to take care of the aged, unemployed and others needing state support. Many African countries suffer this lack of social security and high-level of poverty scourge.
"After servicing some of the needs of these dependants, the scientist has little or nothing left and far from achieving Maslow’s self-esteem to be able to concentrate to conduct first-grade science experiments.
"Let us take the case of the full professor of science in Addis Ababa University earning about US$800 a month (approximately 16,000 Birr). After servicing some of the major needs of his nuclear and extended family, he has barely US$20 left.
"His urgent monthly preoccupation will be to run around looking for augmentation. Laboratory work and how to use his scientific training to solve urgent societal problems will be low down on the priority list. I am giving the example of Ethiopia only because I am speaking at this event organised by the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences. The scenario I just painted is pervasive in many African countries."
He therefore, said the fourth factor was the shrinking level of adventurism by the African scientist.
He said unlike the European and North American counterparts, the African scientist would appear increasingly weak in the quest to conquer the world; to explore; and to venture into novel grounds.
He said while there are pockets of praiseworthy efforts in this direction, such efforts were still too little.
"Of over 215,500 new grounds broken in science and technology in 2014, a mere 0.01% are associated in some form with African scientists", he said.
He added "Ali Mazrui, who we are celebrating today, stopped short of calling it “intellectual timidity” in the 2002 book “Africa and other Civilizations: Conquest and Counter-Conquest, The Collected Essays of Ali A. Mazrui, Vol 2”. While this may be explained by the interplay of several factors such as poor working conditions, we cannot discount the significant impact of the spirit of adventure of the scientist."
He said the third was a consternation of socio-cultural distractions of the African scientist pulling him or her away from the serious business of sciencing.
He added that "The typical scientist has a retinue of family (nuclear and extended) and friends that look up to him or her for financial and other forms of support induced by poverty which pervades the land.
"A land where there is scant social security to take care of the aged, unemployed and others needing state support. Many African countries suffer this lack of social security and high-level of poverty scourge.
"After servicing some of the needs of these dependants, the scientist has little or nothing left and far from achieving Maslow’s self-esteem to be able to concentrate to conduct first-grade science experiments.
"Let us take the case of the full professor of science in Addis Ababa University earning about US$800 a month (approximately 16,000 Birr). After servicing some of the major needs of his nuclear and extended family, he has barely US$20 left.
"His urgent monthly preoccupation will be to run around looking for augmentation. Laboratory work and how to use his scientific training to solve urgent societal problems will be low down on the priority list. I am giving the example of Ethiopia only because I am speaking at this event organised by the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences. The scenario I just painted is pervasive in many African countries."
He therefore, said the fourth factor was the shrinking level of adventurism by the African scientist.
He said unlike the European and North American counterparts, the African scientist would appear increasingly weak in the quest to conquer the world; to explore; and to venture into novel grounds.
He said while there are pockets of praiseworthy efforts in this direction, such efforts were still too little.
"Of over 215,500 new grounds broken in science and technology in 2014, a mere 0.01% are associated in some form with African scientists", he said.
He added "Ali Mazrui, who we are celebrating today, stopped short of calling it “intellectual timidity” in the 2002 book “Africa and other Civilizations: Conquest and Counter-Conquest, The Collected Essays of Ali A. Mazrui, Vol 2”. While this may be explained by the interplay of several factors such as poor working conditions, we cannot discount the significant impact of the spirit of adventure of the scientist."
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