Bayero University, Kano (BUK), in northwestern Nigeria, has joined the global community to celebrate the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development (IYBSSD) 2022-2023.
The event, themed: “Medicinal Plants as Panacea for Cancer: The Role of Basic Science,” took place on Wednesday, 10th May, 2023, at the CBR Conference Hall in BUK Permanent Campus.
Also on the same day, the Cancer Research Group at the Centre for Biotechnology Research in BUK, presented to the general public the findings of a research project it carried out with the support of a National Research Fund (NRF) grant.
The IYBSSD, proclaimed in December 2021 at the 76th United Nations’ General Assembly, highlights the importance of basic sciences in fast-tracking sustainable development, in many parts of the world.
It also seeks to inspire greater engagement in science, and also motivate young people to choose careers in sciences, while also highlighting the value of fundamental research for societal advancement, among other salient objectives.
Importance of basic sciences
While chairing the celebration of the IYBSSD event at BUK, Prof. Hafiz Abubakar, underscored the importance of basic sciences to human and sustainable development.
“You are seeing some negative developments, in which the role of the basic sciences is being neglected. That is why we are reminding ourselves, and those coming behind that let us not forget about the foundation. And if we want a good building, we should have a good foundation,” he said.
Tackling the cancer menace
Prof. Mansurah Abdulazeez, Convener of the BUK IYBSSD celebration, spoke about the research they carried out with the support of the National Research Fund, NRF, and how it is relevant to basic sciences and sustainable development.
She said: “The need to tackle the cancer menace, a major global health challenge has never been as rife. The enormous economic impact of premature mortality and lost productive life years highlights the critical importance of galvanizing cancer prevention and management to achieve sustainable development.
“An urgent need exists therefore, to find an effective, affordable, cost-effective, culturally acceptable and sustainable way of reducing these cancers, and this is an area our project seeks to address.
“Our research in drug development will improve the health and well-being of people, due to its accessibility and affordability. If the health and well-being of the people in the study areas are improved, it will boost the economic activities and improve the quality of education.
“It will also address the issue of gender equality because most research groups now recruit scientists and graduate students taking into account both genders for the training and capacity building. All of this will bring about sustainable development”.
Significance of IYBSSD
Mr. Abdulsalam Baba Mahmud, the Web Editor of www.iybssd2022.org, highlighted the significance of celebrating IYBSSD.
He said that over 80 other organizations, among them many national science academies and their networks, are also supporting the initiative.
He said that the purpose of IYBSSD is to emphasize the crucial role of the basic sciences in underpinning key technological achievements that address and will continue to address the sustainable development goals and contribute to making our world a better place.
Mahmud, further said that: “There are many examples of how basic sciences have contributed to making our current world better.
“Just a few are the Web that was invented owing to the need for global collaboration for experiments in fundamental physics, discovery of DNA structure that has led to revolutionary advances in medicine (genome project, vaccine development, HIV and AIDS treatments etc.), GPS, the invention of the transistor, statistical methods for artificial intelligence, green chemistry and methods for reducing environmental impact.
“For a premier Ivory Tower like BUK, celebrating IYBSSD will afford the scientists and research academics here, the opportunity to showcase their scientific research feats, to the general public, and more importantly, how they will fast-track diverse aspects of sustainable development in Africa’s most populous black nation.
“Equally, BUK, will, by celebrating the IYBSSD, be putting it herself on the global map of world class tertiary institutions that is aggressively promoting basic research in various aspects of natural science”.
