Business a.m
PZ Cussons Nigeria PLC, in collaboration with the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to upgrade chemistry and chemical engineering laboratories in five Federal universities.
The MoU aims to improve facilities in Nigerian universities and contribute to the development of the country’s human capital, particularly in the chemical sciences and engineering fields. The initiative is also expected to provide opportunities for PZ Cussons and NOTAP to foster closer ties with the universities, and to create an environment conducive to research and development in these fields.
The five universities benefiting from the initiative are spread across the five geopolitical zones of Nigeria. They include the Federal University of Technology Akure, Usmanu Danfodio University Sokoto, University of Jos, University of Port Harcourt, and Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike. According to the MoU, a total of N500 million will be spent to implement the project by the end of the year.
Dan’Azimi Ibrahim,NOTAP’s director general noted that the collaboration with PZ Cussons is aimed at supporting the domestication of technology by making research in local universities more relevant to the needs of the Nigerian industry, particularly foreign entities. This, he maintained, can only be achieved if the necessary research infrastructure is available.
At the event,. Dimitris Kostianis, PZ Cussons’ CEO, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to provide cutting-edge equipment to the five institutes, based on their specific needs, and to support their research and development efforts. He also highlighted the company’s intention to utilise research outputs from the institutes.
The vice chancellors of the benefitting universities expressed their gratitude for the equipment and stated that it will significantly enhance their research capabilities and bring them on par with international research centers. They further noted that this would enable them to meet and surpass the standards set by the National Universities Commission (NUC). They assured that their universities have the intellectual resources necessary to maximize the benefits of the equipment.
PZ Cussons Nigeria PLC has previously extended similar support to four universities and one research centre as part of its Corporate Social Investment Programme. With the addition of the five new universities, the company will have provided assistance to ten institutions under the NOTAP-Industry Research Laboratory Upgrade Project (NIRLUP), a NOTAP initiative.
