INCULCATING THE CULTURE OF LABORATORY EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE

The Equipment and Maintenance Centre (EMC), University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (UNAAB), Ogun State organized a two-day workshop. The workshop with the theme “Inculcating Maintenance Culture and Consciousness on Laboratory Technologists and Laboratory Personnel" took place on Tuesday 2 nd to Wednesday 3 rd February, 2010 at the Senate House, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State. The workshop witnessed laboratory technologists, technical staff and other laboratory users from the University as participants.

Mr. Abraham Olajide Ojo, Acting Director, Equipment and Maintenance Centre, UNAAB welcomed everybody present at the opening ceremony of the two days training workshop, which was sponsored by the University. In his welcome address, Mr. Ojo said the problems of equipment maintenance in African Universities especially laboratories in Nigerian Universities are draconian and as a result could not be ignored. He further said that avoidable loss of tax payers money; effective use of laboratory equipment; conduct of students' practical classes, projects and staff research; development of technologists; and issues of safety and health at work are compromised when equipment maintenance culture is not imbibed by stakeholders. He gave reasons of poor maintenance culture, lack of professional ethics and general poor house keeping. Mr. Ojo stressed that the attitudes of participants who are the major users of laboratory equipment must change, he said unkempt environment, excessive heat and accumulation of dust on equipment may attract some penalties to deter mal-handling of equipment. He said this has become necessary due to the constraints of limited funds and thereby challenged participants to ensure that the equipment put under their care are well maintained and functional.

Declaring the workshop opened, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta UNAAB, Ogun State, Professor Oluwafemi Olaiya Balogun who was represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics), UNAAB, Professor Chris Onwuka decried the lack of equipment maintenance culture as evidenced in avoidable increased stockpile of relics of damaged delicate but versatile and expensive ultramodern research and training equipment, which he said the workshop had come to address. In his words the Vice Chancellor said that “with the caliber of our resource persons and our laboratory facilities on ground I have no doubt that, participants will be tremendously equipped to face equipment maintenance challenges”. He advised participants to make adequate use of the equipment maintenance workshop.

Delivering the key note lecture at the occasion, the Guest Lecturer, Dr. Ighodalo Folorunso Ijagbone, Registrar/DG/CEO, Nigerian Institute of Science Laboratory Technology (NISLT), Samonda, Ibadan, commended the management of the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta for sustaining their Equipment Maintenance Centre. He said NISLT knew about the existence and establishment of EMCs and EMDCs in some universities which have become ineffective due to lack of skilled personnel to handle equipment maintenance, no training and re-training for personnel of the Centres, lack of activity in most of the Centres, inadequacy of funds to maintain the EMDCs & EMCs, lack of spare parts required to maintain equipment, non-involvement of the Centres in the management of equipment in most Universities, non availability of diagnostic equipment especially for highly computerized equipment.

In revitalizing the Equipment Maintenance and Development Centres (EMDCs) and the Equipment Maintenance Centres (EMCs), Dr. Ijagbone said that NISLT is proposing the re-engineering and re-focusing of these EMDCs and EMCs in the universities and the establishment of similar structures in Polytechnics, Colleges of Education, and Research Institutions to check the menace of laboratories in the country. Discussing his paper, “ Inculcating Maintenance Culture and Consciousness on Laboratory Personnel” Dr. Ijagbone, Registrar/DG/CEO, NISLT listed the various contraints to laboratory equipment maintenance. He said these included lack of funds and non-functional scientific equipment were the main constraints to scientific work and that lack of competent technologists and support staff were identified as the fourth major constraint.

Under these circumstances he said administrators play a very significant role in the life of equipment as administrators should put in place equipment policies. Every effort, he said should be made to sensitize politicians to the fact that investments in scientific infrastructure are necessary for sustainable development. In his submission he said that the establishment of national funds for purchasing, operating, servicing and maintaining equipment would significantly improve the scientific infrastructure. Dr. Ijagbone also said that the funds should be released in a rapid and timely fashion, and that the process should be transparent. The administrative and financial disbursement procedures he also said should be streamlined. He went further to say that the possibility of attracting private sector funds should be explored for mutual benefits.

The consequences of not adequately funding equipment maintenance he said would result in half-baked students with little exposure for the use of scientific instruments (theory of practical in vogue), sub-standard laboratory results, low research outputs- computer-aided publication, under development of Science and Technology infrastructure, redundancy among laboratory personnel and high risks in laboratories.

Concluding his paper Dr. Ijagbone gave the EMC, UNAAB a checklist, which he said should be used for items costing N100, 000.00 or more and can be completed by the scientists and/or the technologists and that the Authorizing Officer (Policy Maker) should ensure that the form was satisfactorily completed. He said for the EMC to work effectively, the centre should have an administrative structure similar to other support services in the University e.g. Medical Health Centres, Physical Planning Unit, Computer Centre/Resource Centres, Works and Services departments, Library, etc and funded from the University budgets.

Back to News Page