Former Lagos State Deputy Governor and Senator representing Lagos West, Senator Idiat Oluranti Adebule, has called on Lagos State House of Assembly to accelerate the passage of the Innovation Bill designed to create a robust legal and financial framework for science and technology research across the state.
She urged the lawmakers to act quickly, stating that the bill is essential to anchor research and innovation and foster a culture of technological advancement.
Speaking at the Lagos State University’s (LASU) Seventh Research and Innovation Fair, Adebule highlighted the potential windfall for institutions such as LASU, which she argued would benefit immensely from the legislation.
The comprehensive bill, she noted, “seeks not only to establish a legal framework, but also to create a dedicated Research and Development Innovation Fund.”
“This fund would be used to bankroll innovation hubs, technology parks, start-ups and provide crucial support and incentives for doctoral and post-doctoral research,” she said.
She noted that its swift passage is vital for Lagos State’s knowledge economy and tertiary institutions.
“The Lagos Assembly should fast track the passage of the Lagos Innovation Bill to provide a solid legal framework.The move as a necessary step would grow the culture of innovation in Lagos and our tertiary institutions using the quadruple helix collaboration model,” she said.
The fair, which was themed: ‘Promoting The Quadruple Helix Collaboration: Government, University, Industry, and Community’, provided the senator with a platform to articulate a vision for a more inclusive innovation ecosystem.
Adebule explained that the quadruple helix model expands upon the traditional triple helix (government, academia, industry) by introducing civil society and the wider community as an active and crucial fourth participant.
She urged Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who is the Visitor to LASU, to build on the momentum of the university’s innovation drive. While acknowledging the ongoing non-financial infrastructural developments at LASU, including new hostels, a central library, and staff housing.
She insisted that research funding, driven by the bill, was paramount to transmits knowledge.
“it is research that generates the new knowledge and innovations that shape societies, drives development and sustain economies,” she stated.
She added that research findings without industry collaboration risk being trapped in the ivory tower.
For universities, she contended, the core challenge is transforming ideas become prototypes, that prototypes become products and that products transform lives.
LASU Vice Chancellor, Professor Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, positioned the university as a key partner in the state’s socio-economic blueprint.
“This annual fair is more than just an academic exercise. It is the manifestation of our deepest institutional commitment, to move beyond theoretical knowledge and translate our research into tangible solutions,” Prof. Olatunji-Bello said.
She stressed that research only achieves its maximum impact when it is grounded in the needs of the community, which acts as the ultimate beneficiary, the source of vital data and the final adopter of innovation.
The Vice Chancellor called for the fair to be used as a marketplace for ideas and for partnerships, working to forge the four helices into a resilient, collaborative structure.
“LASU is not just a university in Lagos but a university for Lagos,” she concluded.
Among other speakers, Assistant Director for Innovation & Technology Incubation at Central State University, Ohio, Professor Ibrahim Katampe, highlighted the necessity of translational research, a systematic process of converting basic knowledge into practical applications that directly benefit society.
