Prof. Aibinu who spoke at the National Convention and 20th anniversary of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic Abeokuta Muslim Alumni (MAPAMA) said despite the country having over 300 tertiary institutions, Nigeria still ranked 124 in the global innovation rankings in 2021.
Prof. Aibinu represented by Prof. Moshood Ajala argued that, the country has several agencies responsible for promoting innovation and creativity, particularly among the youth, yet, the output from those agencies has not resulted in a significant increase in the country's technological ranking.
Speaking on the theme of the convention
Creativity and Innovation: Tools for solving economic crises in Nigeria, Prof. Aibinu said the significant challenges are the result of a variety of factors, including a large gap between academia and industry, as well as the lack of a sustainable method for transforming research outputs into commercializable products.
According to the Vice Chancellor, a significant number of student projects both undergraduate and postgraduate, are on the shelf because there is no motivation to turn their ideas into products that can be sold to the general public or used to advance the country's technological advancement.
He, therefore, maintained that lack of a link between tertiary institutions and industries creates a chasm that discourages mass production, adoption, and transformation of these projects into products that can be marketed to the general public.
Science, technology, and innovation are the fundamental pillars of any nation's progress.
The ability of a country to consistently produce valuable and innovative research outputs is critical to its development. The world's developed countries make full use of research and advance economically, politically, and socially consistently produce valuable and innovative research outputs that are critical to its development.
The Professor of Mechatronics Engineering and Specialist in Artificial Intelligence, therefore, called for synergy and collaboration between the academia and industrialists to create an industrial revolution in Nigeria.
He noted that, the benefits from having the synergy include creating more opportunities, building knowledge and aiding learning, driving the technology needs of the country, solving societal problems, economic transformation, increasing creativity, debunking lies and to support the truth.
Speaking earlier, the MAPAMA National President, Prince Taofeek Oyeniyi said since the creation of the Alumni association for Muslim graduates in 2001, MAPAMA has served as a platform for the spiritual, socio-economic, educational and professional growth of individual members.
Prince Oyeniyi noted that the association has continued to implement key programmes in line with the four-cardinal agenda of Economic Empowerment, Education, Welfare and Instititional capacity enhacement.