The German Consul General to Nigeria, Mr Ingo Herbert, on Tuesday said Germany was ready to support research institutions in Nigeria to improve the lot of the country.

Ingo made the assertion at a forum of Humboldt Higher Education and Research Linkage held at University of Lagos, Akoka.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Humboldt Network is a group of scholars and researchers with base in Germany.

Their work is supported by the German government with the aim of revitalising higher education management and research.

According to the Consul General, the German government always meets with researchers and scholars all over the world to support their various researches aimed at improving the educational system.

“The German government meets with Humboldtians to find ways to assist the fellowship all over the world and this Nigerian branch has in the past enjoyed the support of our government too.

“The group has its branches all over the world with a network of high profile professors and researchers that create high quality researches with the support of the government.

“German government will support any research, also medical research. When they apply, it will be accepted but proposal must be made first.

“We have supported the University of Ibadan in the past,’’ he said.

In his address of welcome, the Vice-Chancellor of University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof. Rahman Bello, said that it was a great pleasure for the institution to host such an important forum.

We believe in the great human and intellectual potential of staff and students to compete among their peers globally and enjoy competitive advantage.

“We will continue to promote the culture of excellence.

“Humboldt network has rich array of great scholars that has won awards and impressed by their expertise and impressive research profile.

“The kind of support they keep receiving from Humboldt Forum and the German government even after their initial research study in Germany is sufficient to make an average scholar green with envy,’’ he said.

Bello advised the forum to conduct more innovative and cutting edge scientific research which, he referred to, as the bedrock of knowledge.

“We will welcome ideas and suggestions that will make our efforts here aggregate towards achieving the goal of accelerating human capital investment and national development.

“I equally urge you all Humboldians to continually strive to promote the ideals of Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation and the vision of supporting innovative research projects.

“This will improve our capacity for human capital development in tertiary and research centres,’’ he said.

Contributing, Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, the Provost, College of Medicine, UNILAG, who is the host, said that Humboldt Foundation was navigating through the right position in the university.

“To the foundation, College of Medicine is a familiar institution where its benefit and goodwill abound, while the history of the foundation is widely known and its activities widely acclaimed.

“It is on record that Humboldt Foundation is a conglomerate that assists researchers all over the world. Alexander Von Humboldt is a foundation set up by the government of Federal Republic of Germany.

“It was founded by German foreign office, the Ministry of Economic, Cooperative and Development for the cooperation between German institutions of higher education and the world over.

“The University of Lagos in particular has benefitted tremendously from the several awards from the foundation and currently one of the staff, Prof. Samuel Omilabu, is not only a fellow but a beneficiary,’’ she said.

On the theme for next year, “Multidisciplinary Forum on Molecular Technology: Laying the Foundation for Revolutionalised Research in Nigeria’’, Omilabu said it could not but come at this time.

“This conference is designed to stimulate multi-disciplinary collaboration in the wide field of molecular technology and foster the application of emerging tools to rapidly revolutionise the concept of life scientific research.

“The forum will also strive to strengthen networking particularly in pure and natural sciences, basic and medical and clinical sciences, she said.

In his remark, the convener of the forum, Prof. Oluyemi Akinloye, said that the alumni network meeting was aimed at attracting distinguished Humboldtians to an ambitious endeavour.

“Early this year, during the Humboldt Alumni Award, the third time a Nigerian was privileged to receive the prestigious honour, that mandate has driven my passion to hold this meeting.

“It is no longer news that all the three Nobel Laureates this year went to tropical diseases; the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2015 was divided jointly by William Campbell and Sasoshi Omura.

“Their awards were on Novel Therapy Against Malaria. This is about the third time that this prestigious prize will be given in recognition of effort to combat malaria,’’ he said.

Akinloye, however, decried the decay in the value and system of the education sector which, he added, had not help the quality of the system.

“The decay in our value and system did not spare our education system. Our research endeavours have not so far produced any ground breaking solution to the challenges facing our society.

“Humboldt forum has therefore had the privilege of participating in playing its role in Germany and several parts of the world to synchronize forces to overcome many obstacles facing the educational sector.

“I am persuaded that our synergistic effort can turn the tide and put our beloved country on the part of rapid development in science and technology.

“I hope it will put it in the record of global greatness,” he said.

NAN reports that the forum had in attendance many dignitaries from various public and private universities in the country.