The Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) has warned that the country’s health security will remain vulnerable without long-term investment in homegrown research and sustainable national funding mechanisms.

At the November edition of its Monthly Media Briefing in Lagos, the Institute stressed that Nigeria’s ability to detect, prevent and respond to future epidemics depends on a well-funded scientific ecosystem that prioritises local innovation, capacity building and a committed research workforce.

The briefing spotlighted the NIMR Foundation, the Institute’s dedicated resource-mobilisation arm, which has become a key driver of national research development.

Presenting its four-year impact report, NIMR said the Foundation has recorded substantial gains in grantsmanship training, early-career researcher development, advocacy for improved government funding and support for innovation pipelines. These achievements, it said, illustrate the transformative power of strategic and sustained investment in medical research.

NIMR also highlighted the essential role of the media in shaping public understanding of science. Through ongoing engagement with journalists, the Institute said it is strengthening informed public discourse around scientific issues and deepening relationships critical to sustaining national attention on research and innovation.

Speaking at the event, Director General of NIMR, Prof. Oladapo Obafunwa, explained that the NIMR Foundation was created to complement the Institute by mobilising external resources, strengthening talent pipelines and advancing high-impact research needed to address the country’s health challenges.

He said collaboration with media organisations has broadened efforts to promote science literacy and responsible reporting of research outcomes. According to him, the Institute is developing a repository of media-ready materials to simplify and improve dissemination, “not merely for more stories, but for better stories: timely, accurate and contextualised for the public we serve.”

Chairman of the NIMR Foundation’s Board of Trustees, Mr Babatunde Fashola, said the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the dangers of depending on foreign innovations and reinforced the need for a self-sufficient national research ecosystem.

He described the media as central to building public consensus on the importance of scientific investment and disclosed that the Federal Government is considering consolidating all research-related spending into a unified fund.

Fashola appealed to the government, the media, industry and the public to elevate research as a national priority. Nigeria’s preparedness for future epidemics, he said, depends on the strength of its research institutions: “Whether an epidemic becomes a pandemic depends on how prepared we are. And preparedness is driven by research.”

Other board members noted that while philanthropy has helped the Foundation gain traction, research funding cannot rely solely on private goodwill. They urged journalists to maintain pressure for increased government investment, stressing that occasional reporting is insufficient to keep research on the national agenda.

Executive Director of the Foundation, Dr Olajide Sobande, highlighted its major achievements, including the mobilisation of N502 million; the training of 120 early-career researchers who have collectively secured N590.9 million in research grants; support for high-level advocacy that resulted in a N2 billion federal research allocation; and efforts to foster a culture of “brain gain” across the sector.