The University of Lagos (UNILAG) has called for the establishment of a research communication agency that will understand implementation science and create avenues for researchers to engage the media on making impacts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Obinna Chukwu, the deputy vice-chancellor, management services of UNILAG made the call at a two-day workshop organised by the university.
The institution recently organised the workshop with the theme; “Co-creating a Research Communication Strategy for Greater Impact”, in collaboration with the International Research and Exchanges Board in Lagos.
The deputy vice-chancellor in his speech said that all researches must be relevant to society if researchers truly want to be seen as relevant in terms of tackling societal challenges, adding that a major way to achieve the impact would be through robust communication strategies.
“I will simply describe this interactive workshop as a welcome development in the sense that the University of Lagos is gradually moving toward a research-intensive hub.
“There is a very compelling need to disseminate research activities and outcomes to the general public. This workshop is indeed a wake-up call for us, researchers, to ensure that researches we engage in should have that needed impact.
When you do that, communicating such research outcomes becomes easier, as you can easily see the relevance of research; so overall, I think it is a huge step in the right direction,” he said. The deputy vice-chancellor said that he was happy that the university was deepening communication of research activities,” he said.
The university don further said, “I can tell you that when research outputs are properly reported and the relevance of the report bears upon individuals, it goes a long way to drive more research activities that will not only be locally-relevant, but also globally significant.
“Here, in UNILAG, there is a deliberate policy for us to make the institution not only be a conventional university, but also research-driven and entrepreneurial.”
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Wellington Oyibo, a senior lecturer at the University of Lagos disclosed that the university was in dire need of partnership with the media for effective research communication.
“We know as researchers or an institution that we are in an ecosystem where the media is part of. What we are trying to bring out is awareness that we must work together,” Oyibo said.
Oyibo, who is the director of D. K. Olukoya Central Research Laboratory, reiterated that there was need for both researchers and media professionals to work together.
Ijeoma Popoola, a panelist at the workshop counseled both researchers and journalists to guard against ambiguity in communicating research. She urged a multi-media approach in communicating research, adding that inclusion of pictures and videos of research activities would drive impact.
“Many news items compete for limited media space or time. Securing media space or time requires clarity of the message. Doing this will significantly increase impact.
“Also, the research should involve a major discovery. It must be something new or have a fresh angle to an existing situation. The impact the research will have in society should be played up. “How the research will affect society is important. The more the number of people likely to be impacted by a research, the more chances it will have to secure media space and time,” Popoola noted.
Popoola, a deputy editor-in-chief at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), called on the university and its researchers to involve journalists in their research activities from the onset.
According to the media guru, this will enable the journalists to report the commencement of the studies, hindrances, such as funding, and other aspects of the study requiring publicity.
Popoola said an immersion programme on research reporting for selected journalists, would enable them to learn research terminologies and be able to interpret them effectively to the general public
It was indeed a gathering of stakeholders in academia and the media industry at the UNILAG’s 2 days workshop.
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