By Seyifunmi Odunuga
The Federal Government has approved the extension of the appointment of Dr Folarin Gbadebo-Smith as the Director-General, Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research.
This extension which takes effect from May 31st 2021, came on the heels of his impressive tenure at NISER.
The extension is in accordance with the extant provisions of the latest edition of 2019 of the conditions of service for federal research and development agencies, institutes and colleges of completion of five years.
Dr Gbadebo-Smith’s tenure extension came in spite of various unfounded allegations against him by some Unions and some research professors, who are interested in taking over his seat.
Nigerian Institute Of Social And Economic Research is a public research institute located in Ibadan. The centre is one of the foremost publicly funded think tanks in the country and is a parastatal under the Ministry of Finance, Budget and national planning.
The extension will afford Dr Gbadebo-Smith the opportunity to continue the process of repositioning the institute for relevance in the policy space as a world-class Think-Tank.
Dr Gbadebo-Smith’s initial term at NISER was etched on the core mandate of NISER, influencing policy-making and policy decisions in the Country.
Dr Gbadebo-Smith’s first term brought much needed to reformat and a new strategic plan to the institution, which has yielded the creation of new departments and intellectual products.
The first is the Research Management Department (RMD), with a core mandate to manage the research process, control quality and thereby improve the quality of research output. The second is the Knowledge Management Department (KMD) with a core function to co-create knowledge products from research output, which are relevant for public policy and decision making in government. KMD serves to drive NISER’s externally facing functions including policy engagement, external collaborations and brand management. It has the ICT and library divisions as critical divisions driving knowledge acquisition and technological relevance. These two new departments are designed to help NISER achieve a blend of scholarly research (through the RMD) and public policy relevance through KMD.
Dr. Smith is a recipient of many research awards and fellowships, having a background in dentistry, which is arguably the most versatile professional cadre that exists as this is evident in his subsequent career path.
He has served as an elected Local Government Chairman Ikoyi/Obalende LCDA in Lagos State, Nigeria for four years (2003- 2007) before earning a Masters degree in Public Policy as a Mason Fellow at the Harvard School of Governance between 2007 -2008.
