Food Security in Nigeria: Is Biotechnology the Panacea? II

Food Security in Nigeria: Is Biotechnology the Panacea? II

As mentioned in the first part of this article, biotechnology is taking a lead in crops improvement and resistant to certain production and storage challenges. This technique has grown to provide breakthrough products and strategies to combat debilitating and rare diseases, reduce our environmental footprint, feed the hungry, use less and cleaner energy, and have safer, cleaner and more efficient industrial manufacturing processes. The biotechnology existed many centuries ago and widened its scope to include innovation in medicine; extending to its latest globally controversial product: genetically modified organisms, GMOs, sometimes also called transgenic organisms. It is this latest status that brought biotechnology its contemporary limelight with attendant hype and sensationalism, shot it to the global footing of a multilateral agenda. Biotechnology was hitherto a non issue or was just like any other technical breakthroughs. The first stage of  biotechnology is the crops or animals breeding. Traditionally, the aim of breeding of plants and animals is to tailor the plant or animal for a certain character or trait improvement. For example, a new crop variety might be bred for drought tolerant or resistant to diseases. The process of traditional breeding involves  the use of germplasm from the pool of the ancestors with desirable traits of interest and crossing them with each other, to make the progenies output carry through heritability  and have the favorable traits from both parents. Since the progenies carry both half desired and undesired hereditary traits from the parents, they will be passed on  and it takes a number of breeding cycles  (backcrossing) to eliminate the undesired traits and build on the desired traits. This certainly takes time. The final new plant variety or breed of animal after several years of selection will have the desired traits. This is only applicable to heritable traits, which were inherited from its ancestors along with the associated genes for those traits.  Thus, the traditional breeding is a way of harnessing the genetic resources of an organism by selective breeding. The advance level of the traditional breeding is the genetic breeding, which is fast gaining popularity and acceptance globally.

So, why genetic breeding? With traditional breeding, for instance, plants often exchange large, unregulated chunks of their genomes. Sometimes these unwanted or undesired traits can be unsafe. A common example is the case of breeding potato varieties using traditional plant breeding technique. The breeding inadvertently produces excessive levels of natural substance called glyco-alkaloids. These glyco-alkaloids cause gastrointestinal, circulatory, neurological and other related problems. To remove these undesired substances, breeders sometimes have to cross many plants over multiple generations to produce the desired trait. However, GM techniques allow new traits to be introduced one at a time without complications from extra genes and extensive crossbreeding that sometimes takes years to accomplish. Genetic engineering offers the means to breed crops with sexual incompatibility barriers. It also makes possible the transfer of genes within completely unrelated organisms, such as from bacteria to plants. This wonderful innovation provides hopes to hopeless farmers and brings foods to the tables of billions of people. It gladdens me to note  Nigeria is not left behind in the area of biotechnology for both crops productivity enhancement and medical arena.

In Nigeria, without dispute, Ahmadu Bello University has become a  household name in development and advancement of agricultural sciences. In the last sixty years, ABU has led consistent effort in crops breeding and artificial insemination for large ruminants, particularly cattle. As stated in my article of 2^nd September, 2016, two prominent units of the university; Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR) and Department of Plant Science concertedly developed new or improved the quality of existing seeds for the nine strategic crops in Nigerian Ecological zones. The ecological zones in Nigeria are extremely diverse with average annual rainfall of less than  700 mm for some areas and over 4000 mm for others. Despite the challenge pose by this diversity, improved seeds were bred for the nation and the West African sub region. ABU has eminent professors charged with the responsibilities of seeds breeding to achieve the mandates of IAR as a research Institute and the University as a citadel of learning and community development agency.  In this vein, IAR was saddled with statutory function of genetic improvement of nine different crops. The crops varieties developed were Maize, Sorghum, Groundnut, Cowpea, Cotton, Sunflower, Castor, Jatropa and Artimesia, respectively. 

Maize varieties developed by IAR were drought tolerance, early maturing varieties, high yielding varieties, striga resistance, adaptable to Nigerian Savanna and hermonthica prone zones. The maize varieties were SAMMAZ 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25, respectively. These varieties are already in Nigerian Markets.

The second crop developed by IAR is Sorghum popularly, called "Guinea corn". It is a high-energy, drought-tolerant crop. Because of its versatility and adaptation, “sorghum is one of the really indispensable crops” required for animals feeds, brewing and production of ethanol. Sorghum produces more ethanol with less less water compared to sugarcane. IAR developed several varieties of sorghum to serve different purposes across the country. The prominent among the varieties are SAMSORG 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 14 and 17. Others are SAMSORG 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43 and 44, respectively. Some of these improved varieties are semi -dwarf, creamed colored seed, white colored seed, resistant to major leaf diseases and pests, early maturity, striga resistant and many other good qualities against some environmental and climatic challenges. Outstanding characteristics of the varieties are non-photosensitive, excellent seed quality as in the case of SAMSORG 6, good palatability, highest yielding as in the case of SAMSORG 14 and excellent for composite flour as in the case of SAMSORG 38 and 39. Good malting quality varieties were similarly developed and released such as SAMSORG 42, 43 and 44, Malt extract contents for these varieties were found to range from 65% to 78%. Similarly, they were found to be excellent for composite flour making. Another specialized varieties of sorghum are CSR - 01 and CSR - 2, which are adaptable to Northern Guinea savanna and southern Sudan savanna zones. The varieties are resistant to major leaf diseases and highly tolerant to striga. They are also excellent for malting and confectionaries in addition to being high quality seeds. These last four varieties were developed specifically for industrial purposes, which our local foods and beverages industries should take advantage instead of massive importation of Malta. These category of varieties are high yielding and open pollinated sorghums developed for Nigeria and Sahelian region. The second category of sorghum varieties are hybrids. Under this category, ABU has developed and released several varieties such as CSR - 03H, 04H, PRADHAN, MLSH 296 Gold, MLSH 151, PD86W15 and PD87W16.

Cotton is another IAR mandate crop. The cotton varieties developed are Samcot 1, 2, 3, 4, up to 14. The outstanding characteristics of these cotton varieties are high yielding (1.5 to 2.0 tons per hectare), from early to medium maturity,  tolerant to pest/diseases such as moderately resistant to bacterial blight, alternaria leaf spot. Some of the varieties were developed for improved fiber length, medium staple cotton, fine lint and tolerant to salinity condition.

Cowpea, popularly named "beans" is another mandate crop of IAR. The improved varieties of cowpea developed and released by IAR were code named SAMPEA. Within a span of three decades (1978 to 2008), ten varieties were developed and released; SAMPEA 1, 2, 3, 4, up to 10, respectively. The varieties were aimed at increased productivity and meeting some production challenges such as pests, diseases, low inputs requirements and adaptable to the environment. Cowpeas are highly venerable to diseases and attractive to pests, being crops with high nutritional values. Cowpea has significant percentage of protein and fat compared to cereals and tuber crops, which make the crops development more challenging. The developed varieties are resistant to many diseases and pests such as bacterial blight, maruca pod borer, pod sucking bugs, bruchids and many other destructive microorganisms. Their maturity  period are of medium duration from 78 to 100 days. the potential yields of these varieties ranged from 1.2 to 2 tons per hectare. This is much higher than the average estimated yield of 0.483 tons per hectare for cowpea in West Africa as reported by Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

In addition to IAR efforts, there are other significant contributions to biotechnology from similar research Institutes and universities across the nation. What is the current situation of biotechnology products in Nigeria? (to be continued next week)

Food Security in Nigeria: Is Biotechnology the Panacea?

Food Security in Nigeria: Is Biotechnology the Panacea?

In the last fifty years, the Nigerian population has escalated at geometric proportion. Data available in the 2012 revision of the World Population Prospects by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, indicates that Nigerian population in 1950 was only 37,860,000 compared to 159,708,000 in 2010. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 44.0% while between 15 and 65 years was 53.2% and above 65 years was only 2.7%. In my article of 15th July, 2016, published on this page, I quoted  a brilliant demographic analysis made by Sanusi Abubakar, an ace columnist of Daily Trust Newspaper, published in its edition of Tuesday 28/6/2016. His analysis shows that Nigeria has an average birth rate of 850 babies per hour and an average death rate of 280 people per hour giving a population increase of 570 people per hour,  13,491 people per day and 4.92 million people per year. At this rate, Nigeria will reach 263 million by 2030 and 400 million by 2050, which will make the country to be the third most populous in the world. Currently, the population of Nigeria represents 2.35 % of the world´s population. This arguably means that one out of 43 persons on this planet is a Nigerian. With this exponential rate of population increase, the question; how can Nigeria be food secured? This question should disturb every responsible Nigeria; a leader or led, a rich or pauper a resident or nonresident, an able or disable.

The challenge of making Nigeria food secured is a herculean one, considering the current trend in food production, which has made the country to resort to massive food importation. Food imports in Nigeria have been growing at an alarming rate of 11% per annum since the 1980s. From recent government statistics (ATA documents), Nigeria was reported to be the world largest importer of wheat from USA with an annual import of N635 billion. It was also the second largest importer of rice (N356 billion), sugar (N217 billion), fish (N97 billion) and many other staple food items. These agricultural commodities have great local production potentials nationwide. In addition to these potentials, Nigerian arable land is estimated to be 79 million hectares of arable land out of which 32 million hectares are cultivated. The cultivation is done by smallholders,  mostly  subsistence  producers, which  account  for  80% of  all  farm holdings. Again, about 90% of crops production in Nigeria is under rain-fed condition making the cultivated land a mere 100 % cropping intensity. This is currently the picture of Nigerian population and food (in) security. With more population, more foods will be needed on the table as there is no alternative solution to hunger except food. How can Nigeria produce sufficient foods to meet the requirements of this teeming population?

There are several challenges militating against food production in Nigeria. These problems are diverse and interlinked with each other. This column lacks space and time to list and analyze all the problems of agriculture in Nigeria. Some of the problems can be addressed  by good government policy formulation and implementation to provide clear direction on agricultural development. However, scientific approach to address some of the challenges on sustainable manner is pertinent and timely. Challenges such as pests, diseases, inadequate rainfall for some agricultural commodities or early cease of rainfall can be scientifically addressed using biotechnology. Exponential increase of yield per unit land, reduction of maturity time of crops and animals and increase of products quality are easily achieved using biotechnology. what is biotechnology?

 Wikipedia defines biotechnology as the use of living systems and organisms to develop or make products, or "any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use" Depending on the tools and applications, it often overlaps with the related fields of bioengineering, biomedical engineering, bio-manufacturing, molecular engineering, The wide concept of "biotech" or "biotechnology" encompasses a wide range of procedures for modifying living organisms according to human purposes, going back to domestication of animals, cultivation of the plants, and "improvements" to these through breeding programs that employ artificial selection and hybridization.

The use of the biological processes of microorganisms to make useful food products, such as bread and cheese, and to preserve dairy products have been in existence for centuries. These biological processes are simple form of biotechnology. Over the years, biotechnology has grown to provide breakthrough products and technologies to combat debilitating and rare diseases, reduce our environmental footprint, feed the hungry, use less and cleaner energy, and have safer, cleaner and more efficient industrial manufacturing processes. Recent information shows more than 250 biotechnology health care products and vaccines available to patients, many were hitherto untreatable diseases; diseases that were considered "end of the road", are today vaccinated courtesy of biotechnology. In the areas of agriculture, more than 13.3 million farmers around the world use agricultural biotechnology to increase yields, prevent damage from insects and pests and reduce farming's impact on the environment. And more than 50 bio-refineries are being built across North America to test and refine technologies to produce bio-fuels and chemicals from renewable biomass, which can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In the last centuries, as we continued to receive more satisfying results from the use of biotechnology, more efforts were made to elevate it to includes genetic engineering as well as cell and tissue culture technologies. Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct manipulation of an organism's genome using biotechnology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including the transfer of genes within and across species boundaries to produce improved or novel organisms. An organism that is generated through genetic engineering is considered to be a genetically modified organism (GMO). The first GMOs were bacteria generated in 1973 and GM mice in 1974. Insulin-producing bacteria were commercialized in 1982 and the sale of genetically modified food commenced since 1994 in United State. Genetic modification involves the mutation, insertion, or deletion of genes. Inserted genes usually come from a different species in a form of horizontal gene-transfer.

Genetically modified crops (GMCs, GM crops, or biotech crops) are plants used in agriculture, the DNA of which has been modified using genetic engineering techniques. In most cases, the aim is to introduce a new trait to the plant which does not occur naturally in the species. Examples in food crops include resistance to certain pests, diseases, or environmental conditions, reduction of spoilage, or resistance to chemical treatments (e.g. resistance to a herbicide), or improving the nutrient profile of the crop.

Globally, farmers have widely adopted GM technology. Literature reveals that between 1996 and 2015, the total surface area of land cultivated with GM crops increased by a factor of 100, from 17,000 km2 (4.2 million acres) to 1,797,000 km2 (444 million acres). It was also reported that 10% of the world's arable land was planted with GM crops in 2010. In the US, by 2014, 94% of the planted area of soybeans, 96% of cotton and 93% of corn were genetically modified varieties. Use of GM crops expanded rapidly in developing countries, with about 18 million farmers growing 54% of worldwide GM crops by 2013. A 2014 meta-analysis concluded that GM technology adoption had reduced chemical pesticide use by 37%, increased crop yields by 22%, and increased farmer profits by 68%. This reduction in pesticide use has been ecologically beneficial, but benefits may be reduced by overuse. Yield gains and pesticide reductions are larger for insect-resistant crops than for herbicide-tolerant crops. Yield and profit gains are higher in developing countries than in developed countries. What are the progress made in using biotechnology to develop Nigerian agriculture? who made them? What are the challenges and implications? (To be continued) 

Adieu Baba Abdulkarim Ka'ida, the Epitome of “Due Process”

Adieu Baba Abdulkarim Ka'ida, the Epitome of “Due Process”

It was in 1976 when I was still a teenager that Baba Abdulkarim Ka’ida sent a message to Baba Mani, a cousin to my father and then my guardian, that I should relocate from Funtua to Bindawa to complete my primary school education. When the message was relayed to me, I was apprehensive and hesitant.  I wondered why I should move out of a complete cosmopolitan city of Funtua in the southern part of Katsina state to a relatively homogenous and less urbanized society of Bindawa in the northern part. No basis for comparison; Bindawa had no attractive and adventurous locations such as Dutsen Funtua, railway station and three cut-throat competitive primary schools: Aya, Gudindi and Shehu  LEA primary school. I was not given a chance to choose, it was simply an instruction for me to obey. I relocated and continued my education in Bindawa under the watchful eye of Baba Abdulkarim. I am happy I did. The period between 1976 and 1977 was full of life experiences and marked a turning point for me as a teenager with dramatic influence on life up to date.

Baba was a man of few words with each word carrying a clear message, instruction or advice depending on the circumstance. He was a man who thought before he spoke. He was a man of many trades but his major preoccupations were farming and trading. He had a provision shop located at the heart of Bindawa town. The shop grew to become the largest in the 1970s and 80s. He travelled to Sabon Gari market in Kano to purchase provision items for the shop twice a week- Saturday and Tuesday. These days were purposely selected to enable him make sales on Sunday at Charanchi market, Wednesday at Kankia market, Thursday at Bindawa Market and Friday at Rinjin Baushe Market, respectively.

Baba was a multi-task expert. He loved doing many things at the same time and he imparted such habit on me at my early age. While attending my primary school, I was also engaged in marketing of provisions in market stalls especially during holidays. I and Kawu Naisa, his shop keeper occupied different stalls at Charanchi market on Sunday, Rinjin Baushi market on Friday, Bindawa market on Thursday and Kankiya market on Wednesday, respectively. I was made to realize there is dignity in labour and one could make high profit through sales. This business/trading skill assisted me and made me to earn stipends for my upkeep right from primary school to University level. Even after my NYSC, in the 1980s, I went straight into newspapers distribution and sales business before I got a teaching appointment in Katsina Polytechnic (Now Hassan Usman Polytechnic).

Baba Abadulkarim was an ardent believer of "due process". He was nicknamed “Kaida” a Hausa word that can be translated as "follower or respecter of the due process". This was a name he earned more than 60 years ago and it became his personal identity in Bindawa town and beyond. Once, rules of engagement have been set and agreed upon, he respected such rules to the letter and expected everybody to do the same.

Baba Abdulkarim continued his preoccupation of farming and trading despite his old age. We tried to stop him but he steadily and firmly refused, and preferred to make efforts and earn a living. He was never arrogant and appreciated whatever assistance we could render. He however, believed strongly that as long as a person is alive, he/she should make efforts to be productive.

After the death of his elder brother Baba Ado, my father, and his cousins (Baba Dantababa, Baba Wada, Baba Kasimu, Baba Mani, etc), Baba Abdulkarim  took the mantle of leadership of the Lungu family. In the last 25 years, he was a pillar of the family and commanded respect of all and sundry. His words were law to us out of the tremendous respect we had for him.

Baba was loved by all the family members because there was no limit to what he could do to attend or address family matters. I vividly remember Baba's surprise appearance at my wedding in the early 1990s when Abachaeconomy was hitting hard as  lecturers of Federal Polytechnic Bauchi. Considering the situation then, I informed my relations in Bindawa of my marriage but relieved them of the trouble of coming to Bauchi for the wedding. I wasn't unaware that such decision was not good for me especially in Bauchi, because at important events like marriages, people are interested in knowing the family members of the groom. When I appointed a senior colleague to accept the bride on my behalf as demanded by tradition, people started asking is MK Othman really from Katsina as he claims? Naturally, I was disturbed that my origin was being questioned and it was just too late. On the day of the event, Baba led two busloads of delegation from Bindawa for the weddingand physically accepted the bride on my behalf. I was certainly thrilled and my happiness knew no bounds. 

In recent years, Baba's health started failing him. At a point he could no longer come out to attend to his shop. A shop, he built more than 60 years ago. One particular day, this year, I received a call from a cousin that Baba was terribly sick and was taken to hospital. I rushed to Bindawa from Zaria only to meet him relatively healthy and hearty; I was elated seeing his magical recovery considering what I was told. I deliberately spent hours with him that day discussing issues while enjoying his company. At the same time, I was replaying his life 30 to 40 years back, he was an energetic individual always ready to take responsibilities, a free councilor to the young and the old. He had no formal education but he was highly knowledgeable on politics, civil service and current affairs. It was from him, I started learning names like Kashamir, Anwar Saddat, Kwame Nkruma etc. When he was telling me these stories, I imagined he visited such people and places, it was only later I realised Baba knew such events and people through BBC, VOA Hausa service and Radio Kaduna. He was highly knowledgeable of civil servants because they come to collect provisions on credit and pay at the end of the month when salaries are paid.

In the last five years or so, he emerged to be the oldest in Lungu family, a family with over 500 people across the nation and outside. His house became a sort of Mecca for consultations, advices and support. He was an expert in conflict resolution either inter or intra families. He was a voice that everybody respected and a man virtually with no known enemies.

On Saturday 15^th Oct, 2016, I was on my way to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja to board the 7am British Airline for a planned trip to Cornell University Ithaca, New York State, USA, when  I called home, as usual to bid them bye only to be told that Baba’s health condition had deteriorated. I requested to speak to him directly but he couldn’t speak to me. I was disturbed and worried; torn between the concern for Baba’s health condition and obtaining a board pass and going through the numerous security checks at the Airport. Should I stop the trip? What help could I render to Baba at this time? I went ahead with the trip, undertook more than 20hrs flight (Abuja-London-Washington-Syracuse and to Ithaca by road). The battery of my Blackberry was dead, and I was virtually incommunicado by the time I arrived my destination at 2:00 am on Sunday. On Sunday 6am, American time (12 noon, Nigerian time), I was able to open my inbox using my Galaxy note, the first message from my childhood friend Prof. Mansir Auwal Bindawa was a condolence message over the death of Baba Abdulkarim. The news was like a thunder; shocking and devastating but Ahmadu Lillah, we are all mortals awaiting for our appointed times. Babas’ time had come and gone, may Allah grant him Aljannah Firdausi, amen. Adieu Baba Abdulkarim, “Kaida,” epitome of " due process". 

 

Cornell University Ithaca: A Farmer’s Contribution to American Education

Cornell University Ithaca: A Farmer’s Contribution to American Education

University education is a byproduct of university system and a strong foundation for societal development. This is because the system has three main functions or pillars for the societal development. The functions are teaching, research and community service. Knowledge is quickly acquired through learning and teaching is the instrument for learning. Research is a systematic activity undertaken for many reasons such as increase the stock of knowledge; discover new information on the existing happenings, problems and solutions identification, increasing system efficiency among others. In addition to teaching and research, which are other ways of serving the society, university is expected to render community service using pool of intellectual capacities at its disposal to solve societal problems. It is within this context that establishment of university is seen as a giant contribution to the educational development of a nation.  This is a story of Cornell University Ithaca, New York and its founder; a farmer – Senator, Ezra Cornell.

Cornell University was established in 1865 at Ithaca. Its establishment was the result of authorization by the New York State (NYS) Senate as the state’s land grants institution. A farmer, Ezra Cornell offered his farm in Ithaca, New York as a site and princely cash amounting to $500,000 from his personal fortune as an initial endowment. As part of patriotic and historic effort, a fellow senator and experienced educationist, Andrew Dickson White became the first president (equivalent of Vice Chancellor) of the university. During the next three years, White oversaw the construction of the first two buildings and traveled to attract students and faculty. Thus, White is considered as a cofounder of Cornell University. The university was inaugurated on October 7, 1868, and 412 students were admitted the next day.

Right from conception, Ezra Cornell’s vision for the University of his Dream was very clear, “I would (have) found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study – Ezra Cornell, 1868”. Ezra Cornell (January 11, 1807 – December 9, 1874) was a man with many trades; an American businessman, politician, philanthropist in addition to being a successful farmer. He was the founder of Western Union and He also served as President of the New York Agriculture Society as well as one of the famous Senators of his time.

Since then, Cornell University developed to become a giant institution with a lot of technological innovations and breakthroughs through research works within and outside its campus. For example, in 1883 it was one of the first university campuses to use electricity from a water-powered dynamo to light the grounds. Since 1894, Cornell has included colleges that are state funded and fulfill statutory requirements it has also administered research and agricultural extension activities that have been jointly funded by state and federal matching programs.

From 2000, Cornell University expanded its international programs to other continents, for instance in 2004, the university opened the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar. It established partnerships with institutions in India, Singapore, and the People's Republic of China. Former president Jeffrey S. Lehman described the university, with its high international profile, a "transnational university". On March 9, 2004, Cornell and Stanford University laid the cornerstone for a new 'Bridging the Rift Center' to be built and jointly operated for education on the Israel–Jordan border.

Administratively, Cornell University is decentralized, with its colleges and schools exercising wide autonomy. Each defines its own academic programs, operates its own admissions and advising programs, and confers its own degrees. The only university-wide requirements for a degree program are to pass a swimming test, take two physical education courses, and satisfy a writing requirement. A handful of inter-school academic departments offer courses in more than one college. All academic departments are affiliated with at least one college; the last department without such an affiliation, the Cornell Africana Studies and Research Center, merged with the Arts College in July 2011. In 2015, Cornell ranked 8th domestically and 10th internationally in the CWUR rankings. For 2016-17, Cornell ranked 16th in the QS World University Rankings and 19th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. The university ranked 10th in the 2013 Business Insider Best Colleges in America ranking, 15th in the 2016 U.S. News & World Report National Universities ranking, and 13th globally in an academic ranking of world universities by Academic Ranking of World Universities in 2015. Cornell was ranked 27th nationally in The Washington Monthly's 2016 ranking of universities' contributions to research, community service, and social mobility. Cornell's Center for Advanced Computing was one of the five original centers of the NSF's Supercomputer Centers Program. The university’s School of Hotel Administration ranked No. 1 in world on March 8, 2016.

Cornell Plantations, located adjacent to the Ithaca campus, is used for conservation research as well as for recreation by Cornellians. In the basement of Goldwin Smith Hall, researchers in the Dendrochronology Lab determine the age of archaeological artifacts found at digs

Research is a central element of the university's mission; in 2009 Cornell spent $671 million on science and engineering research and development, the 16th highest in the United States. Thus, Cornell as a research university, is ranked fourth in the world in producing the largest number of graduates who go on to pursue PhDs in engineering or the natural sciences at American institutions, as well as fifth in the world in producing graduates who pursue PhDs at American institutions in any field. Latest Rankings

The achievements of the university in research became possible because of its dedicated staff and huge funds being expended on its research programs; example for the 2004–05 fiscal year, the university spent $561.3 million on research. The fund comes largely from federal sources, with federal investment amounting to $381.0 million. The federal agencies; the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Science Foundation contributed 51.4% and 30.7% of all federal investment to the university. Another breakthrough of Cornell reputation receiving patents, it was on the top-ten list of U.S. universities receiving the most patents in 2003, and was one of the nation's top five institutions in forming start-up companies. During the period of 2004–05, Cornell received 200 invention disclosures, filed 203 U.S. patent applications, completed 77 commercial license agreements, and distributed royalties of more than $4.1 million to Cornell units and inventors.

Another successful story of Cornell is the record of alumni. Cornell alumni are known for their accomplishments in public, professional, and corporate life. Many prominent personalities across the globe are alumni of Cornell. Prominent among the top public servants in many countries were Lee Teng-hui who was the president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen was elected to be the first female president of Taiwan, Mario García Menocal was president of Cuba, Jamshid Amuzegar was prime minister of Iran. Others were Hu Shih who was a Chinese reformer and representative to the United Nations, Janet Reno was the first female United States Attorney General, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg serves on the Supreme Court. Alumnus David Starr Jordan was the founding president of Stanford University, and M. Carey Thomas founded Bryn Mawr College. Additionally, alumnus Matt Urban holds the distinction as the most decorated serviceman in United States history.

Still on Alumni in the business World; they include Citigroup CEO Sanford Weill, Goldman Sachs Group Chairman Stephen Friedman, Kraft Foods CEO Irene Rosenfeld and Autodesk CEO Carl Bass. Others are Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini,  S.C. Johnson & Son CEO Fisk Johnson, Cargill Chairman Warren Staley, Chevron Chairman Kenneth T. Derr, Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse, Burger King founder James McLamore, Hotels.com founder David Litman. This list is endless!

In medicine, some of the Alumni were inventors; Robert Atkins developed the Atkins Diet, Henry Heimlich developed the Heimlich maneuver, Wilson Greatbatch invented the pacemaker, James Maas coined the term "power nap", and C. Everett Koop served as Surgeon General of the United States. Thomas Midgley, Jr. invented Freon, Jon Rubinstein is credited with the development of the iPod, and Robert Tappan Morris developed the first computer worm on the Internet. Eight Cornellians have served as NASA astronauts; Steve Squyres is the principal investigator on the Mars Exploration Rover Mission. In aerospace, also, Otto Glasser directed the USAF program that developed the SM-65 Atlas, the World's first operational Intercontinental ballistic missile. Bill Nye is well known as "The Science Guy".

This is by no means a giant contribution to the university education by the founder Cornell and his Co-founder White. They permanently imprinted their names in the history of American university education with unlimited influence on the global technological development. Prominent Nigerians can take cue by investing in Nigerian university education without a goal of profit making. The history can start today.

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