The Institute of Africa Higher Education Research and Innovation (IAHERI), Maryam Abacha American University of Nigeria (MAAUN), Kano, on Saturday, 20th August, 2022 conducted its first International Webinar.
The webinar which was conducted virtually was titled 'Repositioning Higher Education Research for Institutional Sustainability and Development'.
In his welcome address, the President of MAAUN, Prof. (Dr.) Mohammad Israr, who described the conference as the first of its kind conducted by the University, disclosed that no fewer than 1,455 participants registered online for the webinar from over 21 countries across the globe.
Prof. Israr, who stressed the importance of the international conference to the university, also applauded the organizers of the conference for their commitment towards promoting the institution to greater heights.
He also noted that the University kick-started academic activities with four schools, namely; School of Nursing Sciences, School of Computing, School of Health Sciences and School of Social and Management Sciences.
Presenting the paper, a lecturer at the Department of Educational Foundations, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Prof. Awwalu Muhammad Inuwa described Higher education institutions as engine rooms for human development.
According to him, educational institutions are a societal engine room for research and the findings are expected to go a long way to help scholars, policy makers, industries, institutions and society to improve, develop and sustain progressive values.
He said any country that neglects its higher institutions' innovations and advice will definitely not have a socially competitive sustainable development.
Prof. Inuwa said the society and its sub sectors had over ages relied heavily on referring to knowledge, verified wisdom, history and findings from scientific researches to run government, train manpower, build economic, develop societies and even defend its integrity.
"Thus, educational institutions are a societal engine room for research and the findings are expected to go a long way to help scholars, policy makers, industries, institutions and society to improve, develop and sustain progressive values," Prof. Inuwa said.
He, therefore, stressed the need to maintain and sustain higher institution research by means of improved professionalism, dedication by all stakeholders in the conduct of research to attract consumers of the studies output.
Speaking at the event, the Director Academic Planning and Quality Assurance, MAAUN, Dr. Nura A. Yaro, who lauded the discussants for their thorough review of the paper, also stressed the need for result-oriented researches, saying that such researches shouldn't be meant for promotion purposes in academia but should rather be used to solve real life problems.
He noted that high education research is the bedrock for socio-economic development of any society, adding that all industries, sectors and market operators depend largely on impact-based research stressing that no society would progress meaningfully without paying attention to productive research.
Dr. Nura, who identified problems such as result fabrication, interrupted power supply and network related issues as major hindrance to the production of quality researches in the academia, also called on the stakeholders to utilize the outcomes of their researches while imploring them to redesign and refocus attention on result-driven researches for academic excellence.
In his closing remark, the Vice President Administration MAAUN, Dr. Habib Awais Abubakar described the topic of presentation as timely which he said has enabled the discussants to have cross-fertilization of ideas during the meeting.
He charged the academics to imbibe the habit of engaging students in research in order to develop their highly valued competencies, adding that more research-based teachings also make research more attractive to students and lecturers alike.
Dr. Awais Abubakar also thanked the Founder and Chairman Governing Council of MAAUN Conglomerate, Prof. Adamu Abubakar Gwarzo, for his ingenuity and thoughtfulness for breeding the idea of the Institute, which is aimed at promoting quality-based and result-oriented researches in Africa.
Also in his remarks, the Director, IAHERI, Dr. Abubakar Sadiq Haruna, who introduced dignitaries at the occasion, commended the Founder and Chairman Governing Council of MAAUN conglomerate, Prof. Adamu Abubakar Gwarzo for establishing the Institute and providing the enabling environment for the institute to operate effectively.
The panel of discussants include Dr. Edmond Akwasi Agyeman, Centre for African Studies, Winneba, Ghana and Prof. Ahmed Maigari Ibrahim, Vice Chancellor, Northwest University, Sokoto.
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