Eight winners of the 2016 and 2017 research proposals from Nigerian universities for development of the telecommunication industry have received grants worth N54,755,846 million from The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)
The beneficiaries includes :Prof. Francis Waihala of Covenant University, Ota, N9.321 million for the development of low-cost GDP system for rural areas; Dr. Cyprian Anayochukwu of Enugu State University of Science and Technology, N1.381 million for the development of a home grown electrical power charger for cellphones from cooking heat. Dr. Stella Orakwe of the University of Port Harcourt, N5.265 million for the design and construction of 1 to 10 GHz Anechoic chamber for 3G, 4G and 5G antenna measurement; Engr. Mahmood Abdulhameed of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, N5.916 million for the design and construction of customer identification system in telecom industry; Engr. Oluseun Oyeleke of Nigerian Air Force Institute, Kaduna, N5 million for the design and construction of a power line communication modem for domestic Local Area Network (LAN). Other recipients are Dr. Olusegun Peter Awe of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, N12 million for the design, fabrication, experimental characterization of plastic optical fibre cable and the exploitation of its potentials in Nigeria telecom industry, Dr. Kehinde Agbele of Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin, Ondo state, N5 million for GSM-based smart energy meter and Prof. SB Junaidu of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, N6.995 million for development of wearable e-band tracking system.
The executive vice chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, while presenting the grants said the commission came up with the research and proposals grant project in recognition of the role of the academia in the development of the telecom sector
“ 56 proposals from the academia were selected but only three were chosen. In the year 2017, of the ninety six (96) received proposals, after stringent evaluations, six (6) proposals were also successful’’, he said.
“NCC welcomes and demands collaboration in all you do. It is for this reason that we have insisted on the involvement of your graduate and undergraduate students in the research projects. We have set out clear terms and conditions for the grant. We expect you to abide by all the terms of the award. You are not under any circumstance to showcase the work or the prototype to any bodies, organizations at any exhibition until the commission has received the final prototype and sign off on it.”
“We will always show concern for the quality, relevance and efficiency of the product we want to push into the industry,” he added.
Earlier, the chairman of the inter-agency committee that selected the researchers, Prof Muhammad Muazu, said one of the major areas of focus of the research proposals was to consider the relevance of those proposals to telecom industry and how they leverage on the existing infrastructure of the telecom industry, adding the process that produced the nine researchers was very thorough and transparent.
