The Challenges and Joys of International Collaboration: A VIEW FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN IN NIGERIA By Abel Idowu Olayinka Established as a College of the University of London in 1948, national Programmes, the Research Foundation, Intellectual and becoming an autonomous university in 1962, the University Property and Technology Transfer Office and the Centre for of Ibadan (UI) is the oldest university in Nigeria. The University Entrepreneurship and Innovation. currently has more than 26,000 students, almost 50% of whom are graduate students. Its graduate school is one of the largest As part of the vision of the University of Ibadan is “to be a in Sub-Saharan Africa, producing 200 PhDs every year. With world-class institution for academic excellence geared towards more than 1,500 faculty members, it was the top-ranked univer- meeting societal needs”, the University signed Memoranda of sity in Nigeria in 2013 according to the country’s National Uni- Understanding with many institutions within Nigeria, the rest of versities Commission. According to the latest UNESCO Science Africa and other parts of the world (Figure 1). Elements of such Report (Schneegans, 2010), Nigeria’s scientific publications are collaboration typically include the following: exchange of under- top-ranked in Sub-Saharan Africa, second only to South Africa, graduate and graduate students; exchange of staff and training; with significant focus on clinical medicine and biomedical re- exchange of academic material and information; development of search. As an indicator of its role in the global research enter- internationalized curricula; setup of joint internships and practi- prise, Nigeria, together with South Africa and Kenya, had the cal field courses; credit transfer; development of joint degree largest number of internationally collaborative scientific publi- programmes; development and implementation of joint re- cations in Sub-Saharan Africa. In terms of U.S. federal funding search programmes. between 2009 – 2013, Nigerian institutions received more than 200 research grants totaling approximately $130 million (www.usaspending.gov) and both the University of Ibadan and Obafemi Awolowo University are recipients of the European Union’s Framework Programme Funding. Like many state-funded universities around the world, the challenges of the Nigerian University System include inadequate funding due to tight government budgets; a shortage of modern teaching and research equipment; inadequate staff develop- ment and low staff morale; and increased demand for and cost of municipal services on the campuses. Despite this environ- ment, the University of Ibadan has invested in new structures to enhance research management and technology transfer activi- Figure 1: Linkages between the University of Ibadan and other institutions ties including the Research Management Office, Office of Inter- The University’s curricula have benefitted from these interna- tional collaborations, and some have resulted in new academic Substantial research funding has been received from the European programmes in the University: Commission, Johns Hopkins University, Indiana University, the U.S. M.S. in Humanitarian and Refugees Studies National Institutes of Health (NIH), Wellcome Trust (UK), the World Master in Information Science Health Organisation, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the M.S. in Construction Project Management University of Stellenbosch (South Africa). M.S. and Ph.D. in Petroleum, Energy Economics and Law M.S. in Child and Adolescent Mental Health M.S. in Disaster Risk Management A collaborative Ph.D. programme in Economics. 48 NCURA Magazine Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy The university recently developed an Intellec- duct of research. The Ethics Policy is part of and most populous country. tual Property (IP) Policy. The IP Policy sets the Research Policy of the institution produced (World Bank). forth the rules to harmonize the conflicting in- with generous funding from the John D. and terests of stakeholders relating to ownership of Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The Uni- IP, distribution of income, marketing, commer- versity of Ibadan affirms that excellence in re- 200 [U.S. federal] grants cialization and licensing of patents and intellec- search, teaching and learning, professional totaling $130 million tual property developed by University of Ibadan conduct and services cannot be achieved with- academic staff, administrative and support staff out sound ethical standards. The aim of this and students. With universities and individual policy is to strengthen the awareness of ethical faculty members under increased pressure to principles and issues in the conduct of re- Clearly, there remain obstacles to research in a quantify research activities and output, the Uni- search, thereby specifying the obligations of re- developing country such as Nigeria such as the versity of Ibadan has produced a Policy on Au- searchers, sponsors and the beneficiaries of re- shortage of human, institutional and financial thorship of Scholarly Publications that serves search. resources, the relatively low priority assigned as a framework for pre-empting contentious is- to research, the current absence of a national sues around authorship. The core values of ethics at the University of research funding agency, and the impact of cul- Ibadan are based on principles enshrined in tures, religion and norms that undermine ethi- International collaborations between faculty the Nigerian constitution and the National cal requirements such as informed consent. and researchers at the University of Ibadan and Health Research Ethics Code (NRHEC). This However, these challenges are not insurmount- their colleagues from other parts of the world policy covers ethical issues in research, teach- able as Nigeria is Africa’s most populous state have provided opportunities for us to increase ing and learning as well as in professional con- (170 million) and largest economy, and eco- our research output through more publications duct and services. nomic growth per annum has ranged between in peer-reviewed and indexed journals, a larger 6-8% over the past decade. Nigerian universi- number of Ph.D. graduates, and more patent In order to adequately implement this policy, ties such as UI stand to gain in stature and filings. In addition, our faculty members in- the University of Ibadan has created four new standing as a relatively young population con- creasingly have the opportunity and the means Research Ethics Committees (UIRECs): tinues to demand more of its educational and to attend international conferences in their re- Social Sciences and Humanities research institutions and the country can in- spective disciplines. However, a major chal- Ethics Committee (SSHREC) creasingly afford to meet those demands. N lenge in the past 20 years that we have faced in Animal Care and Use Research References international collaboration is the frequent dis- Ethics Committee (ACUREC) ruption of the academic calendar due to indus- Schneegans, Susan (Ed.). (2010). UNESCO Science Plant Use and Conservation Research Report 2010: The Current Status of Science trial disputes between the university adminis- Ethics Committee (PUCREC) around the World. Paris, France: United Nations tration and the staff unions. It is hoped that the Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. situation has now stabilized. In some cases, the Science and Technology Research Ethics Committee (STREC) USAspending.gov. (2014). Prime Award Spending collaborative linkages have been relatively dor- Data. Retrieved 06/12/2014, from mant due to the lack of funds, though the This is in addition to the existing Health Re- USAspending.gov database. agreements are in place. search Ethics Committee (HREC). In addition, World Bank (2014). New Country Partnership Strategy in Nigeria Set to Spur Growth, Less The Research Policy of the University of Ibadan the policy includes the Ethics of Teaching and Poverty. Retrieved 07/01/2014 from provides guidelines for research activities that Learning (ETL) and the Ethics of Professional http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/nigeria/ will ensure excellence and integrity in the con- Conduct (EPC). publication Abel I. Olayinka, PhD, Deputy Vice-Chan- The West African Research and Innovation Management Associa- cellor (Academic), at the University of tion (WARIMA) was inaugurated in Lagos, Nigeria, in November Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. His responsibili- 2006. It is a professional body for research management staff ties include coordinating all the academic in the West African sub-region. It operates at an institutional and research functions in the University. In addition, Abel is the Chairperson of WARIMA (West and international level, as well as across the research value African Research and Innovation Management Associ- chain, from research management through innovation to re- ation), which is the professional body for research man- search commercialization. WARIMA is a member of the Interna- agement in the West Africa sub-region. The association shares best practices, increases the awareness of re- tional Network of Research Management Societies (INORMS), and it has held an annual search and innovation issues in academic and public Workshop and Conference with themes such as Fundamentals of Research Management, institutions, and promotes the advancement of science, Accessing International Research Funds, Institutionalizing Research Management in the technology and innovation in West Africa. He can be West African Sub-region, Enhancing Research Productivity in African Universities, and Con- reached at [email protected] temporary Issues in Research and Innovation Management in Africa. The theme for the most recent conference in April 2014 was ‘Networking: A Key to Advancing Research Man- agement and Innovation in West Africa’. The 8th Annual Conference will be held at Elizade University in Ilara Mokin, Nigeria, in November 2014. AUGUST 2014 49.