Perhaps, Nigerian universities may be on the way back to the good old days when research and technology were the hallmarks of teaching and learning. The strides made by some universities, including privately owned ones are indications that the nation’s ivory towers are about to rediscover themselves as real citadels of learning and research.
It was the Bayero University, Kano, BUK, which unveiled a fabricated solar dryer when it hosted technical and scientific innovation fair for Nigerian universities in 2009. The solar device is meant for the dehydration of harvested cereals, fruits, cassava and plantain chips, as well as meat and fish specimen in order to ensure their sustainable preservation.  
Barely one year after, in November 2010, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN, unveiled an advanced model of the solar dryer, also in another scientific expo hosted by the university. The advanced engineering modifications resulted in the evolution of a hybrid machine with the capacity to be powered by wind energy at night and solar energy during the day. 
Three other federal universities of technology with exceptional strength in the area of industrial processing have also been identified. The Federal University of Technology, Akure evolved an integrated cassava processing machine, which can peel tubers, grind, dry, fry and pack them into final product. 
Another notable high point of the UNN expo of 2010 was the innovative strength shown by Nigerian private universities in finding solutions to the nation’s critical problems of hunger and environmental pollution. A project consultant with the National Universities Commission, NUC, TV programme, Voyage of Discovery Dr. Odewumi, told this magazine that the display of meat substitutes produced from soybeans by Babcock University stunned participants at the expo. The meat substitutes are said to act as healthy food supplements for the aged, as well as for people with diabetes and high blood pressure. Also, an electric car has been fabricated at Covenant University, Otta, which was recently presented to members of the public. This shows that the annual technological show could engender a spirit of innovative competition among participating tertiary institutions and can sustainably boost productivity for accelerated national and technical development. The Voyage of Discovery, instituted by NUC, also seeks to link academic innovation with industrial productivity.
The TV series, Voyage of Discovery, showcases research fairs and scientific exhibitions, where participating Nigerian universities pride themselves with outstanding results of their research efforts and groundbreaking discoveries. The Vice Chancellor of Nasarawa State University, Professor Shemsudeen Amali, expressed the need for nation’s tertiary institutions to be actively involved in teaching, research and community service. This according to him is what separates advanced nations from developing countries. 
Some countries have established pure research universities. Although, Nigeria has no established university dedicated to researching and learning, there are a number of research institutes such as the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, IITA, Ibadan and Crop and Root Institute, Umudike, Abia State. The IITA has commenced the production of bread with up to 50 percent local flour content. According to the federal ministry of agriculture, Nigeria presently imports N635 billion worth of wheat annually. 
Another breakthrough in a research conducted by Professor Ernest Izevbigie, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, DVC, of the Benson Idahosa University in Benin City using bitter leaf plant. Izevbigie, a professor of Biology who began working on the plant in 2000, exposing a very diluted amount of the plant’s extract to an MCF-7 breast cancer cell, revealed marvelous cell’s reaction to the growth of the cancer cell. “That in itself is significant. But if you add a little more, even a moderate amount, it completely killed it”.
In 2003, Ernest Izevbigie was recognised worldwide for helping expand Jackson State University’s focus as a research center.
At that time, Izevbigie’s research had resulted in the historically black university’s only two patents. The first one involved ethanol’s effect on the growth of human breast cancer cells. The second one and the patent receiving the most buzz around the globe  was based on a possible deterrent for breast cancer.
A 2006 research showed that bitter leaf helps in reversing alterations due to liver damage.  It is also said that it has cholesterol lowering properties.
But the biggest of all is its anti-cancer uses, which using the scientific method, it has been proved that the plant’s extract can slow cancer growth and even kill cancer cells. In 2007 with two new grants amounting to $1 million — and two additional patents  boosted Izevbigie’s innovative research efforts that began in Nigeria.
Izevibigie’s journey to science and research world started early in life. He said he was fascinated by his grandmother’s journey to the jungles searching for native roots, barks and plant leaves. Ukpabor Obasan, Izevibigie’s grandmother, an herbalist who died in 1991 at the age of 102, he recalled, used extracts from the edible plants to effectively treat various illnesses. “When I began my university career, I became interested in studying some of the extracts she used, which had never been tested in scientific study, because I believed they held the key to longevity and good health.” Izevbigie’s research led to the discovery of the water-soluble anticancer agents from the bitter leaf plant. Studies showed that incorporating the leaf extract into the diet might prevent or delay the onset of breast cancer. He again recalled that his grandmother was among other Nigerians who used extract from bitter leaf plant to treat breast tumor cells. “When a very small amount of extract was present in the body, the ability to grow cancerous cells was retarded; when the amount was increased only a little bit, the cancerous cells were killed completely.”
His team has also proved that VA can be effective in other types of cancer. “We have discovered in studies that the VA extract is also efficacious against prostate, melanoma, carposi, sarcoma and lymphoma. We have also done animal studies and found the VA works in the animal models and we are in the process of publishing that paper now.”
The research was tested on mice suffering from prostate, melanoma, carposi, sarcoma or lymphoma cancer. This was based on the size of the tumor, which is similar to that of man. “After six weeks, the tumors in the mice treated with VA extract went away completely and were left as just dry skin. Over time, that skin will be consumed by phagocytic cells in the body,” he added. He noted that 95 per cent of the time when a drug works in animals, it works in humans.
The drug though patented in the United States of America, USA it is now available in Nigerian pharmacies. Named is the prestigious Marquis Who’s Who lists of notable people in America and around the world, Professor Izevbigie  is modest about accepting praise for his discovery of a potentially lifesaving medicine. “I spread around the credit because without the help of my students, I couldn’t do the majority of the work,” he said.
A holder of the Ph.D, from the Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI,  in 1996, Izevbigie obtained his M.Sc from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, in 1988 and the B.Sc from the Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN, all in the USA in 1986. His research interests include characterisation of mechanisms involved in tumorigenesis, development and characterization of plant-derived modulators of the cell cycle, molecular and cellular signaling and development and therapeutic index assessment of novel plant-derived agents as candidates for cancer prevention and/or therapies.

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