NLNG, NCDMB build research centre at Rivers varsity

Nigeria LNG and the NCDMB have broken ground on the Research and Innovation Centre for Computer and Electrical Engineering at Rivers State University to accelerate indigenous technological research.

Nigeria LNG and the NCDMB broke ground on the Research and Innovation Centre for Computer and Electrical Engineering (RICCEE) at Rivers State University to accelerate indigenous technological research. The centre is designed to promote research and innovation in computer and electrical engineering, areas that are critical for Nigeria’s technological development.

The investment in research and innovation is a welcome development. The centre will provide students and researchers with the facilities and resources they need to develop new technologies and solutions. The partnership between NLNG, NCDMB and the university is a model for public-private collaboration in education. The success of the centre will depend on the quality of the research and the ability to commercialise the results.

This echoes the 2020 investments in Nigerian universities, which also sought to promote research and innovation. The mechanism then was different, but the result was the same: a focus on building local capacity.

The winners: students and researchers, who will benefit from the centre; and the Nigerian economy, which gains from technological innovation. The losers: foreign technology providers, who face competition; and the Nigerian government, which must support such initiatives.

Bottom Line: A new research centre is coming to Rivers State University. Innovation is the goal. The question is whether the centre will produce world-class research or remain a white elephant.