The Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Julius Okojie, has decried the nonchalant attitude of some Nigerian academics to research.

He made the observation on Monday in Ilorin at the first National Stakeholders' Summit on Postgraduate Research in Nigeria organised by the University of Ilorin Postgraduate Students Association.

Okojie, who delivered a paper on "Promoting Scholarship through Postgraduate Studies Theses Award: The NUC Approach," said research was a vital component of a true academic career.

The NUC boss said research was indispensable for national development, adding that professors who should be mentors had either dropped their scholarly acumen or no longer interested in carrying out research.

Okojie also said that young academics were no longer goal-oriented and were now more interested in materialism.

To promote research, he said the NUC introduced the Nigerian Universities Doctoral Theses Award Scheme (NUDTAS) to promote best practices among universities.

"NUDTAS was borne out of the desire to encourage postgraduate scholarship and create a culture whereby universities and individuals will invest their intellect and time in research, given its critical role in nation building.

"It is unfortunate that statistics shows that only very few universities have been participating since 2001.

"As at 2009, only 16 universities had produced NUDTAS awardees with federal universities accounting for 93 per cent and state universities 7 per cent of NUDTAS awardees," he said.

He said private universities had, however, not produced NUDTAS awardees.

The NUC boss was represented at the occasion by Prof. Nancy Agbe, a former vice-chancellor of the University of Mkar, Benue.

In his remarks, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali, said the summit was a wakeup call for academics to be involved in extensive research programmes.