UNILAG Embarks On N39m Climate Change Research Project

The University of Lagos (UNILAG) has embarked on a
palynological research project worth N39 million to
determine the status and effects of climate change on
coastal regions of Lagos State. A pre-project
workshop for the research, which is sponsored by
the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) National
Grant Scheme in collaboration with UNILAG, held at
the Julius Berger Hall of the university on Tuesday
during which the requirements and progress of the
project were spelt out.
Principal investigator of the project, Prof Oluwatoyin
Ogundipe, said it would provide an alternative way
for the Lagos State government to predict climate
change in the state for the next 20 years, which
would help in planning and development of the state.
He said: "This is our own contribution in determining
the effects of climate change in Nigeria and Lagos
State in particular. This is not somebody coming
from abroad to now start modelling something for
us. We are doing this one ourselves and this is the
first time we are having a research like this in Nigeria
and I want to say that the climate change summit of
Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babatunde Fashola, last
year inspired this project."
Ogundipe said the project would bring together
scholars and students – undergraduates and
postgraduates – from various departments of the
university as well as related agencies across the
country like the Nigerian Institute of Meteorological
Science for a joint effort to get accurate statistics on
climate evolution.
He said results of the project would help in regional
planning, conservation and sustainability of the
environment, biodiversity, issues of Greenwich areas
in Lagos, as well as influence other state
governments in the country to show more concern
for the environment.
One of the principal researchers of the project, Dr
Temitope Onumiya, a lecturer in the department of
Botany, said the project is about using pollen grains
and climatic data to assess changes that have
occurred around the Lagos coastal environment over
the years, through a comparison of vegetation that
existed from the past 10,000 years to now.
She encouraged Nigerian higher institutions to
expand their interests and involvement in research
works that would promote the status of the nation
and reduce the country's dependency on developed
countries.
She said: "For UNILAG, we are a solution-proving
institution where we make research in order to help
solve national problems. This is what every higher
institution is expected to do. We are not just there to
train people; we are also there to provide solutions."
Speaking at the workshop, Vice Chancellor of the
university, Prof Rahamon Bello said the project was
one of two projects being funded by the TETFund in
the institution and urged individuals and groups in
the country to tap into the TETFund scheme to
broaden their horizon.
He said: "There is no longer limit to research funding
because even if the university's research funds
cannot carry your researches, the TETFund research
grants and TETFund National Grant Scheme would lift
you."
He urged them to attend to more proposals and
come up with their own research proposals to
promote their career and the nation.
The Nation

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