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Astrobiology in Nigeria: The Challenges of NASRDA

Received: 5 October 2022    Accepted: 8 November 2022    Published: 23 November 2022
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Abstract

Astrobiology is a space science discipline that studies the dawn of life and its distribution in the universe. In Nigeria, the study and scientific research on Astrobiology has its challenges which impede scientific growth and development. The Astrobiology Unit of the Centre for Basic Space Science (CBSS), National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) identified these challenges and made recommendations capable of promoting Astrobiology in Nigeria and beyond. The challenges of the unit include data integrity, unavailability of Astrobiology laboratories, lack of collaboration with Nigerian Universities because they don’t offer part or full-time courses in Astrobiology, absence of an Astrobiology Institute in Nigeria and paucity of awareness about Astrobiology to the general public. The awareness level of Astrobiology to the general public was identified in this paper using two quantitative research surveys. The first survey was combined among the staff of CBSS-NASRDA and the University community of the University of Nigeria (UNN). The second survey was among students from senior secondary classes in sixteen selected schools. The sample size (n) for the survey was generated using the standard Fisher’s formula and a sample size of 968 was used. The recommendations of the unit include the introduction of Astrobiology as an emerging field of science to the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) by NASRDA, the incorporation of Astrobiology laboratories across different NASRDA Centres, the establishment of a National Institute of Astrobiology through inter-ministerial collaborations, and incorporation of Astrobiology awareness in NASRDA outreach activities.

Published in Science, Technology & Public Policy (Volume 6, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.stpp.20220602.16
Page(s) 92-95
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Astrobiology, Life, Awareness Survey, CBSS, NASRDA

References
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[3] Cockell, C. (2012). How the Search for Aliens can Help Sustain Life on Earth. Available from: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/02/world/europe/astrobiology-aliens-environment-opinion/index.html?hpt=hp_c4 [Accessed on 02 November 2022].
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[5] Cowing, K. (2016). Release of the First Roadmap for European Astrobiology. Available from: https://astrobiology.com/2016/03/release-of-the-first-roadmap-for-european-astrobiology.html [Accessed on 02 November 2022].
[6] Domagal-Goldman, S., Arney, G., & Lopez, E. D. (2019). Astrobiology as a NASA Grand Challenge. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20190029133/downloads/20190029133.pdf
[7] Fisher, L. D. (1998). Self-designing clinical trials. Statistics in Medicine, 17, 1551-1562.
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[11] O’Callaghan, J. (2021). NASA’s Perseverance Rover Finds Signs of Epic Ancient Floods on Mars. Available from: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasas-perseverance-rover-finds-signs-of-epic-ancient-floods-on-mars/ [Accessed on 27 October 2022].
[12] Onsongo, H. O., & Kiarie, P. G. (2016). Factors influencing uptake of provider-initiated counselling and testing for HIV at Kijauri Sub County hospital Nyamira County. Scholars Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, 4 (4A), 347-353.
[13] Strickland, A. (2022). Perseverance Rover finds Organic Matter Treasure on Mars. Available from: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/09/15/world/perseverance-rover-mars-images-scn/index.html [Accessed on 27 October 2022].
[14] Thombre, R. S., Vaishampayan, A. P., & Gomez, F. (2020). Applications of Extremophiles in Astrobiology. In R. Salwan & V. Sharma (Eds.), Physiological and Biotechnological Aspects of Extremophiles (pp. 89-104). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818322-9.00007-1
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Cite This Article
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    Egbuim Timothy Chukwudiegwu, Ezenwukwa Nnenna Dorathy, Chukwudi Augustina Obiageli, Ezenwugo Mercy Hubert, Okpara Richard Tobechi, et al. (2022). Astrobiology in Nigeria: The Challenges of NASRDA. Science, Technology & Public Policy, 6(2), 92-95. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.stpp.20220602.16

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    ACS Style

    Egbuim Timothy Chukwudiegwu; Ezenwukwa Nnenna Dorathy; Chukwudi Augustina Obiageli; Ezenwugo Mercy Hubert; Okpara Richard Tobechi, et al. Astrobiology in Nigeria: The Challenges of NASRDA. Sci. Technol. Public Policy 2022, 6(2), 92-95. doi: 10.11648/j.stpp.20220602.16

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    AMA Style

    Egbuim Timothy Chukwudiegwu, Ezenwukwa Nnenna Dorathy, Chukwudi Augustina Obiageli, Ezenwugo Mercy Hubert, Okpara Richard Tobechi, et al. Astrobiology in Nigeria: The Challenges of NASRDA. Sci Technol Public Policy. 2022;6(2):92-95. doi: 10.11648/j.stpp.20220602.16

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  • @article{10.11648/j.stpp.20220602.16,
      author = {Egbuim Timothy Chukwudiegwu and Ezenwukwa Nnenna Dorathy and Chukwudi Augustina Obiageli and Ezenwugo Mercy Hubert and Okpara Richard Tobechi and Shaibu Abuh and Uhiene Godspower Ojochide and Monday Dennis Pam and Ugwuozor Ngozi Dyian and Onyeuwaoma Nnaemek and Okere Bonaventure},
      title = {Astrobiology in Nigeria: The Challenges of NASRDA},
      journal = {Science, Technology & Public Policy},
      volume = {6},
      number = {2},
      pages = {92-95},
      doi = {10.11648/j.stpp.20220602.16},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.stpp.20220602.16},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.stpp.20220602.16},
      abstract = {Astrobiology is a space science discipline that studies the dawn of life and its distribution in the universe. In Nigeria, the study and scientific research on Astrobiology has its challenges which impede scientific growth and development. The Astrobiology Unit of the Centre for Basic Space Science (CBSS), National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) identified these challenges and made recommendations capable of promoting Astrobiology in Nigeria and beyond. The challenges of the unit include data integrity, unavailability of Astrobiology laboratories, lack of collaboration with Nigerian Universities because they don’t offer part or full-time courses in Astrobiology, absence of an Astrobiology Institute in Nigeria and paucity of awareness about Astrobiology to the general public. The awareness level of Astrobiology to the general public was identified in this paper using two quantitative research surveys. The first survey was combined among the staff of CBSS-NASRDA and the University community of the University of Nigeria (UNN). The second survey was among students from senior secondary classes in sixteen selected schools. The sample size (n) for the survey was generated using the standard Fisher’s formula and a sample size of 968 was used. The recommendations of the unit include the introduction of Astrobiology as an emerging field of science to the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) by NASRDA, the incorporation of Astrobiology laboratories across different NASRDA Centres, the establishment of a National Institute of Astrobiology through inter-ministerial collaborations, and incorporation of Astrobiology awareness in NASRDA outreach activities.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Astrobiology in Nigeria: The Challenges of NASRDA
    AU  - Egbuim Timothy Chukwudiegwu
    AU  - Ezenwukwa Nnenna Dorathy
    AU  - Chukwudi Augustina Obiageli
    AU  - Ezenwugo Mercy Hubert
    AU  - Okpara Richard Tobechi
    AU  - Shaibu Abuh
    AU  - Uhiene Godspower Ojochide
    AU  - Monday Dennis Pam
    AU  - Ugwuozor Ngozi Dyian
    AU  - Onyeuwaoma Nnaemek
    AU  - Okere Bonaventure
    Y1  - 2022/11/23
    PY  - 2022
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.stpp.20220602.16
    DO  - 10.11648/j.stpp.20220602.16
    T2  - Science, Technology & Public Policy
    JF  - Science, Technology & Public Policy
    JO  - Science, Technology & Public Policy
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    EP  - 95
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2640-4621
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.stpp.20220602.16
    AB  - Astrobiology is a space science discipline that studies the dawn of life and its distribution in the universe. In Nigeria, the study and scientific research on Astrobiology has its challenges which impede scientific growth and development. The Astrobiology Unit of the Centre for Basic Space Science (CBSS), National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) identified these challenges and made recommendations capable of promoting Astrobiology in Nigeria and beyond. The challenges of the unit include data integrity, unavailability of Astrobiology laboratories, lack of collaboration with Nigerian Universities because they don’t offer part or full-time courses in Astrobiology, absence of an Astrobiology Institute in Nigeria and paucity of awareness about Astrobiology to the general public. The awareness level of Astrobiology to the general public was identified in this paper using two quantitative research surveys. The first survey was combined among the staff of CBSS-NASRDA and the University community of the University of Nigeria (UNN). The second survey was among students from senior secondary classes in sixteen selected schools. The sample size (n) for the survey was generated using the standard Fisher’s formula and a sample size of 968 was used. The recommendations of the unit include the introduction of Astrobiology as an emerging field of science to the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) by NASRDA, the incorporation of Astrobiology laboratories across different NASRDA Centres, the establishment of a National Institute of Astrobiology through inter-ministerial collaborations, and incorporation of Astrobiology awareness in NASRDA outreach activities.
    VL  - 6
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Astrobiology Unit, Centre for Basic Space Science, National Space Research and Development Agency (CBSS-NASRDA), Nsukka, Nigeria

  • Astrobiology Unit, Centre for Basic Space Science, National Space Research and Development Agency (CBSS-NASRDA), Nsukka, Nigeria

  • Astrobiology Unit, Centre for Basic Space Science, National Space Research and Development Agency (CBSS-NASRDA), Nsukka, Nigeria

  • Astrobiology Unit, Centre for Basic Space Science, National Space Research and Development Agency (CBSS-NASRDA), Nsukka, Nigeria

  • Astrobiology Unit, Centre for Basic Space Science, National Space Research and Development Agency (CBSS-NASRDA), Nsukka, Nigeria

  • Astrobiology Unit, Centre for Basic Space Science, National Space Research and Development Agency (CBSS-NASRDA), Nsukka, Nigeria

  • Astrobiology Unit, Centre for Basic Space Science, National Space Research and Development Agency (CBSS-NASRDA), Nsukka, Nigeria

  • Astrobiology Unit, Centre for Basic Space Science, National Space Research and Development Agency (CBSS-NASRDA), Nsukka, Nigeria

  • Astrobiology Unit, Centre for Basic Space Science, National Space Research and Development Agency (CBSS-NASRDA), Nsukka, Nigeria

  • Astrobiology Unit, Centre for Basic Space Science, National Space Research and Development Agency (CBSS-NASRDA), Nsukka, Nigeria

  • Astrobiology Unit, Centre for Basic Space Science, National Space Research and Development Agency (CBSS-NASRDA), Nsukka, Nigeria

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