TETFund To Build Modern Research Center In Abuja- Echono

The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has disclosed that it is working alongside other stakeholders to put in place a modern research centre in Abuja.

Echono, who stated this during a visit by a senior delegation from the King’s College in his office on Tuesday in Abuja, stated that the Centre when completed, will draw researchers and postgraduate scholars from existing colleges and universities of medical sciences, among others.

He also spoke of the Fund’s readiness to provide support for King’s College, London, on its partnership with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) towards their proposed plan to establish a medical school in Abuja.

Echono expressed delight over the project, adding that the Fund is always ready to partner with various bodies in the area of research to address challenges facing the country.

“Giving our heritage and long years of partnership with the UK, we are always delighted to have opportunities for collaboration in various fronts.

“I also want to add that in recognition of the huge challenge we face as a country especially in the area of life sciences, medical sciences and the huge foreign exchange expended annually on medical tourism to so many countries on the globe, we welcome any effort that will try and create local content to bring here such modern facilities to the right faculties to ensure we deliver tertiary health care to our people,” he said.

He also said the Fund would explore areas of collaboration with the Afreximbank and King’s College on the area of facilities, staff training and research.

“We are also establishing institutions that will focus on the health and life sciences sector, and we believe if we can have this type of partnership and draw the right personnel, and with Afreximbank involvement we believe we will be able to provide modern facilities that will set the standard. It is like a model and they will look up to it, with collaboration and partnership, with joint research programmes, they can also help uplift all the other nascent institutions.

“We also have a robust training programme for our personnel, including facilities of our institutions, so we will look at that opportunity because TETFund has an academic staff training programme,” Echono added.

Earlier, leader of the delegation and Deputy Vice President, King’s College, London, Dr Helen Bailey, said one of the institution’s partners was working with Afreximbank on the medical school project.

” One of our partner hospitals, King’s College Hospital is working in partnership with Afreximbank to develop African Medical Centre of Excellence which the hospital is a key component of.

“Just recently, in November, we signed a memorandum of agreement with Afreximbank to provide a short consultancy project to explore the development of a medical school; a nursing school and a research centre to be co-located with the hospital in the outskirts of Abuja, ” she said.