Open Science Adoption Stalls in Nigeria Despite UNESCO’s Warning of 1% GDP Research Funding

The Funding Paradox

Hook: Contrast Nigeria’s vast potential with UNESCO’s dire warning

Nigeria pulses with possibility. Africa’s largest economy. A youth population exploding with talent. Universities teeming with over 60,000 academics. Yet UNESCO just dropped a bombshell: 272 million children and youth globally are out of school—over 10.5 million in Nigeria alone. This isn’t just an education emergency—it’s a scientific time bomb. While UNESCO’s 2025 Science Report reveals 80% of countries spend less than 1% of GDP on research, Nigeria epitomizes this crisis. Despite adopting UNESCO’s Open Science Recommendation in 2021, our research ecosystem is gasping for oxygen. Why? Because we’re starving it.

Picture this: Brilliant minds at the University of Lagos malaria lab ration electricity like wartime supplies. Professors at Nnamdi Azikiwe University spend salaries just to publish papers. Meanwhile, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay declares education, culture, and science “essentials, not luxuries”—every $1 invested in education yields $15–20 in GDP growth. Nigeria’s response? Education gets less than 8% of our national budget (vs. UNESCO’s 15–20% benchmark). Science and culture combined? Less than 1%. We’re dismantling our future while the world races toward AI and climate resilience. This isn’t neglect; it’s self-sabotage.

Global Backdrop: UNESCO’s Alarm & Open Science Vision

Context: International benchmarks and frameworks

Let’s cut through the noise. UNESCO isn’t whispering—they’re screaming into a megaphone. At July 2025’s International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville, Azoulay laid it bare: “Failing to fund these sectors undermines not only national economies but our shared future”. The math is brutal:

The 1% GDP Threshold: UNESCO’s non-negotiable for viable R&D. Nigeria’s spending? A pathetic 0.1–0.5%. For perspective, South Africa invests nearly triple that. Result? Climate disasters cost us $6.7 billion in flood damage in 2022 alone—while climate adaptation gets pennies.

Open Science as Equity’s Engine: UNESCO’s 2021 Recommendation isn’t academic jargon. It’s a blueprint for decolonizing knowledge: sharing data, integrating Indigenous wisdom (like Yoruba herbal medicine or Hausa crop rotation), and making science accessible to farmers in Osun or coders in Aba. Yet 85% of global open-access repositories sit in Western Europe/North America—Africa has less than 2%. Translation: We’re consumers, not creators, of knowledge.

But here’s the kicker: Eleven countries launched open science policies since 2021—proving change is possible. Nigeria endorsed it. Then stalled. Why?

Nigeria’s Underinvestment Crisis: The Hard Data

Diagnosis: Funding gaps and systemic failures

Numbers don’t lie. Let’s autopsy the carnage:

Budgetary Betrayal: TETFund’s National Research Fund sounds impressive—₦8.5 billion allocated in 2021. Until you realize that’s just $10 million at parallel market rates. For 200 universities. That’s ₦42.5 million per institution—enough for one HPLC machine, not a lab.

Debt vs. Destiny: We spend more on debt servicing than public education. In 2022, total African debt servicing matched the continent’s entire education budget. Madness.

Brain Drain Tsunami: Underfunding isn’t abstract—it’s professors fleeing to Canada. A 2021 study found 17.11% of research decline stems from brain drain. Why stay when you’re paid in “exposure”?

Infrastructure Rot: Scientists cite inadequate electricity (82%) and obsolete facilities (67%) as top productivity killers. Imagine researching virology with power outages.

The fallout? Social science research—critical for solving poverty and conflict—is “underperforming relative to system size”. We have 31,943 social scientists, yet output lags behind smaller nations. Why? No central research body to coordinate priorities. It’s like building Lagos without an urban plan.

Barriers to Open Science Adoption in Nigeria

Analysis: Why reforms stall despite global momentum

Open science isn’t failing here by accident. Five systemic toxins:

The “Publish or Perish” Poison: Promotion hinges on journal impact factors, not data sharing. Early-career researchers face zero incentives for open practices—just extra unpaid labor.

Digital Deserts: NRENs (National Research & Education Networks) lack “last-mile” connectivity. Francophone scholars once flew to Paris to analyze data—a disgrace LIBSENSE is fixing, but slowly.

Policy Theater: Nigeria endorsed UNESCO’s Open Science Recommendation. Great. But without enforceable mandates or audits, it’s a paper trophy.

Cultural Sector Neglect: Nollywood and Afrobeats drive 6.4% industry growth (2024), yet culture gets less than 0.5% of the budget. Imagine merging science with Lagos’ film innovation hubs. We don’t.

Language Barriers: Most open science platforms are English-only, excluding Hausa, Igbo, or Yoruba knowledge. So Indigenous insights on drought-resistant crops? Locked away.

The bitter irony? Open access publishing fees—meant to democratize science—have become exclusionary. Researchers in Maiduguri can’t afford $2,000/article charges while battling generator costs.

Grassroots Progress: LIBSENSE as a Beacon of Hope

Solutions: Local initiatives driving change

Amid the gloom, warriors are rewriting the script. Meet LIBSENSE—launched in 2017 to unite librarians and techies. Their weapon? Open science communities.

Fatimah’s Rebellion (Nigeria): She leads a 9-librarian squad across 8 institutions. Wins: Drafted open science policies for Summit University Offa and Federal University of Technology Minna. Trained 2,500+ creatives via Caribbean-inspired webinars on diamond OA (no-fee publishing).

Dominic’s Army (Ghana): Mobilizes researchers to run journals and fight “impact factor” obsession.

WACREN Partnership: Building shared RDM tools so scholars don’t “fly to Paris for data”.

This isn’t charity—it’s strategy. LIBSENSE focuses on early-career researchers to stop “brain drain”. They’re “investing in future research leadership”.

A Roadmap for Nigeria: From Underinvestment to Open Leadership

Solutions: Multilevel actions

Time for radical pragmatism. Five pathways:

Government Levers: Redirect 10% of debt relief to R&D (per UNESCO’s debt-for-education swaps). Pass laws mandating open access to publicly funded research—no more hiding behind paywalls.

Universities & Publishers: Adopt DORA/CoARA standards to reward data sharing in promotions. Launch Nigerian diamond OA journals—retain our scholarship, like African Journal of Social Science.

International Allies: IMF’s 2025 Article IV report must tie fiscal reforms to science investment. Scale transcontinental e-infrastructure (e.g., undersea cables for NRENs).

Private Sector Awakening: Pharmaceutical giants must fund labs like AstraZeneca funded vaccines.

Citizen Science Surge: Integrate Indigenous knowledge holders into climate/agriculture research.

The goal? Hit UNESCO’s 1% GDP target by 2030. Not through aid—through sovereignty.

Reclaiming Nigeria’s Scientific Destiny

Nigeria’s research famine isn’t fiscal—it’s a failure of imagination. We’re sitting on a goldmine: ancestral wisdom, viral ingenuity, a youth bulge hungry to build. UNESCO warns: “If wars begin in the minds of men, then peace and progress must also be constructed there”. Open science is our shovel to dig out of this grave.

Fatimah and Dominic prove solutions exist. LIBSENSE’s blueprint works. Now we need political courage to fund it. Not next year. Now. Because when a professor in Ibadan shares malaria data openly, a student in Sokoto can cure it. When farmers in Enugu document drought hacks, Kenya adapts. That’s power.

Your Turn to Champion Science

Call to Action: Engaging readers beyond academia

You’re not “just” a teacher/artist/entrepreneur. You’re science’s lifeline. Here’s how:

Fund a Future: Donate to university OA journals like Nigerian Journal of Technology. ₦5,000 keeps an article free.

Demand Action: Tweet #FundNigerianScience @nassnigeria. Tag reps until they raise R&D budgets.

Celebrate Warriors: Amplify Fatimah and Dominic.

Be a Citizen Scientist: Document local innovations—herbal remedies, flood defenses—on WikiAfrica.

Final Thought: Science isn’t a luxury—it’s the soil where Nigeria’s greatness grows. Tend it.