Nobel Prize: Why Nigerian scholars were not nominated

The Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU) has said Nigerian scholars, especially from the intellectual community, were not nominated for the 2023 Nobel Prize because of poor research funding.

The Secretary-General of the committee, Prof. Yakubu Ochefu was reacting to the recent announcement of the 2023 Nobel Prize winners.

He spoke at a news conference to herald the commemoration of 60th anniversary of the committee in Abuja on Friday.

Ochefu explained that for Nigerians to feature in the Nobel prize nominations, there must be major breakthrough in cutting-edge research.

“This comes back to the work that the CVCNU has been doing over the years which is to improve the funding of the university system.

“To win a Nobel prize is a product of sustained and rigorous research in the academic discipline, it is not a one-off thing.

“It looks surprising that the average age for a Nobel prize winner is from 50 years, it means that the person would have been doing research for at least 10 years to make a major breakthrough in his area of specialisation.

“We do not have enough funding for research in this country, there is a correlation between the quantum of resources available for research and the development of every country.

“And the benchmark is at least one per cent of your Gross Domestic Product (GDP) should be set aside for research and innovation, we are not even doing 0.1 per cent,” he said.

Ochefu also added that the absence of facilities to do cutting-edge research over a sustained period of time to compete with researchers from other parts of the world was a major challenge.

The Nobel Prize is an international prize awarded annually since 1901 for achievements in physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace.

Nobel Prizes have been awarded to over 800 individuals since inception.

Norwegian author Jon Fosse is the winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature for his “innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable.

Wole Soyinka, a Nigerian, became the first African to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986.

Nobel Peace Prize for imprisoned Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi

The imprisoned Iranian women’s rights activist Narges Mohammadi has won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced on Friday.

She was awarded the prestigious prize “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all,” committee chair Berit Reiss-Andersen said at the prize announcement in Oslo.

Mohammadi is one of the best-known human rights activists in Iran and has been imprisoned several times.

Currently, the 51-year-old is serving a long sentence in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran.

In late 2022, during the nationwide uprising against Iran’s power apparatus, Mohammadi brought to light a report that revealed alleged torture of dozens of women in the maximum security prison.

“This prize is first and foremost a recognition of the very important work of a whole movement in Iran with its undisputed leader Narges Mohammadi,” Reiss-Andersen said at a news conference following the announcement.

Asked by reporters about the potential impact of the prize on its winner, Reiss-Andersen said: “The impact of the prize is not for the Nobel Committee to decide upon.

“We hope that it is an encouragement to continue the work in whichever form this movement finds to be fitting.”

Asked whether Mohammadi would be allowed to leave the Evin prison to accept the award when it is formally presented in December, Reiss-Andersen said she hoped this would be the case.

“If the Iranian authorities make the right decision, they will release her so she can be present to receive this honour, which is what we primarily hope for.”

Some 259 personalities and 92 organisations were in the running for the Nobel Peace Prize this year.

The total number of 351 candidates was the second highest ever. The nominees are traditionally kept secret.

The Nobel Peace Prize is considered the world’s most important political prize. Since it was first awarded in 1901, more than 140 individuals and organisations have now received it.

Last year, the imprisoned Belarusian human rights lawyer Ales Bjaljazki and the human rights organisations Memorial from Russia and the Center for Civil Liberties from Ukraine were awarded the prize.

Swedish dynamite inventor and prize donor Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) stated in his will his desire to create the prize.

The Peace Prize is the only one that is not awarded in the Swedish capital Stockholm, but in the Norwegian capital Oslo.

Prize winners in the categories of medicine, physics, chemistry and literature were announced earlier this week in Stockholm.

The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences will be announced on Monday to conclude this year’s prize announcements.

All awards this year are endowed with 11 million Swedish kronor (nearly $1 million) per category, 1 million kronor more than in previous years.

They are traditionally presented on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death.