A new project, Scaling a Research Equipment Database for Equitable Access in Nigeria, is seeking to transform how researchers access scientific equipment across the country. The question is simple: what is the benefit to Nigeria?
 
The project has significant national value because Nigeria has invested heavily in research equipment across universities, research institutes and polytechnics, but researchers often do not know what exists, where it is located, whether it is functional, who can access it or how to access it. 
 
By making Nigeria’s scientific equipment visible, accessible and shareable, the initiative seeks to transform scattered laboratory assets into a connected national research infrastructure – enabling more researchers to conduct better science, reducing duplication, strengthening collaboration and accelerating innovation.
 
It is not about creating a database. It is about equitable access, resource optimisation, research capacity, collaboration and ultimately national development.

Its 10 key benefits to Nigeria include: Maximising existing investments: Makes equipment already purchased with public and donor funds visible and usable and reduces duplication of expensive equipment.
 
Equitable access: Researchers from less-resourced institutions can identify and access equipment elsewhere, bridging the gap between better-resourced and less-resourced schools.
 
Lower research costs: Researchers can locate equipment within Nigeria rather than sending samples abroad or buying unnecessarily. Institutions can share facilities.
 
Strengthening research quality: Access to appropriate, functional and well-maintained equipment improves quality and reproducibility of research.
 
Supporting collaboration: Connects researchers, laboratories and institutions around shared facilities, facilitating multidisciplinary and inter-institutional work.
 
Better investment decisions: Policymakers can see where critical equipment exists and where gaps remain, so future investments are evidence-based.
 
Improving maintenance and utilisation: Capturing functionality, maintenance status and utilisation helps identify underused or poorly maintained equipment and plan interventions.
 
Supporting postgraduate training: M.Sc and PhD students can access equipment not available in their home institutions, strengthening practical training.
 
Accelerating innovation and industry partnerships: Start-ups and industry can identify labs and specialised equipment for testing, prototyping and product development.
 
Building a national ecosystem: Moves Nigeria from individual institutional ownership towards a connected model of shared national research infrastructure.

How It Positions Nigeria Globally
First, it changes the narrative. Nigerian and African science is often discussed in terms of what it lacks. A comprehensive equipment database shifts conversation to what capacity already exists, where it is located and how the world can connect to it.
 
Second, it demonstrates that Nigerian scientists can build infrastructure relevant to their country – an example of how a large country can use digital technology and collaboration to improve utilisation of existing assets.
 
Third, it helps Nigerians become contributors to global science. Better access means more sophisticated work locally, leading to stronger publications, patents, technologies and innovations from Nigeria. The objective is not simply making equipment visible but making Nigerian scientific capability visible.
 
Fourth, internationally, research is increasingly collaborative and networked. A platform that facilitates shared access positions Nigeria within this movement.
 
The ambition is summed up as “from isolated laboratories to a connected national research ecosystem,” and ultimately, “from Nigeria being seen primarily as a consumer of scientific technology to being recognised as a contributor to global science, innovation and knowledge production.”

About Schlumberger Foundation Faculty For The Future
The Schlumberger Foundation’s Faculty for the Future programme is a long-term investment in developing women scientists, strengthening Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) institutions and creating a pipeline of women leaders. It seeks to accelerate gender equality in STEM by reducing barriers women face, supporting women from low- and middle-income developing economies pursue doctoral and postdoctoral training in very prestigious institutions outside their home countries, with the expectation that they will return home to contribute through teaching, research, entrepreneurship and policy.
 
“For more than two decades, Faculty for the Future has invested in women scientists from developing countries. With more than 100 Nigerian women having benefited, this investment has helped build a generation of highly trained Nigerian women scientists and STEM leaders. The 2026 Impact Grant represents another dimension – supporting a Nigerian woman scientist to develop a system-level solution that can strengthen research infrastructure across the country,” the Foundation noted.

Prof. Edu J. Inam: A Legacy Of Science, Service And Sustainability
Prof. Inam’s journey began at the University of Uyo where she earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Analytical Chemistry, before earning a doctoral degree in Nuclear and Radiochemistry from Loughborough University, United Kingdom, in 2005.

She has also studied at the United Nations University, Tokyo.
 
Her career is marked by competitive fellowships: Korean Government postdoctoral fellowship at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology in 2007, extended by Schlumberger Foundation, and a Commonwealth Professional Fellowship at Lancaster University, United Kingdom in 2017.
 
As Project Lead for the National Scientific Equipment Database, an initiative of Nigeria’s Schlumberger Faculty for the Future alumnae, she has championed the mapping and digitisation of equipment inventories for equitable access. She has led the development of a computer-based test platform for Inoyo Toro Foundation, a non-governmental organisation that recognises Teaching Excellence in Akwa Ibom State.
 
Beyond the lab, she was the pioneer president of the Organisation for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD), University of Uyo Chapter. She was instrumental in establishing the Nigeria Chapter of the American Chemical Society, where she now chairs its International Chemical Science Chapter.
 
Within the Chemical Society of Nigeria, she coordinated the Global Experiment during the International Year of Chemistry and led the National Chemistry Competition from 2011-2014, earning a Meritorious Service Award in 2017.
 
Her commitment to community science is epitomised by the Oboh Annang Biogas Project – Akwa Ibom State’s first biogas demonstration project – sponsored by World Bank/UNDP, which converted cow dung into clean energy for a rural community.

Transformative Head Of Department
As Head of Chemistry at UNIUYO, she led one of the department’s most transformative periods, culminating in the inauguration of its first-ever fully equipped Chemistry Research Laboratory in August 2025.
 
With over 70 high-impact journal articles, 40+ conference presentations, 35 Master’s and nine PhD supervisions, she was ranked highest among female researchers at UNIUYO in the 2025 AD Scientific Index out of 850 researchers.
 
She now sits as a member of the National Universities Commission’s Blueprint ICT-Dev STEM Transformation Strategy Committee, a project supported by the French Development Agency (AFD) and serves as Director, Centre for Energy and Environmental Sustainability Research (ICEESR), University of Uyo.
 
Across three continents, her story returns to one idea: science only matters when it reaches people – the rural community that needs clean energy, the woman scientist who needs a seat at the table and the student who needs functioning equipment to complete a research project for graduation.