Dr. Olusegun Edward Ojo founded RAR in 2019. This is based on his observations during his years of academic pursuits from which he bagged a Bachelor's degree, three Master’s degree, a PhD and other diploma certifications from the Premier University of Ibadan, University College London and North West College, South Africa.                                                                                                                                                In view of his professional exposure as a private consultant in Urban Development Planning and Disaster Risk Reduction College and professional pursuits with Federal Government MDAs and Multilaterals like the European Union, World Bank, UNDP, UNICEF, UNECA and also some stints as a lecturer in a College of Education and 2 Universities in Nigeria, Dr Ojo realized that lots of academic and professional research works are consigned to the back of bookshelves to gather dusts and some forgotten in folders of computers after using them to gain promotion in the various higher institutions by the writers. Some that couldn’t be stored in physical locations due to lack of space for storage are burnt or kept in electronic folders where they are never heard of again.

Pondering on the significant time, money and research investment put into academic and professional works including his personal works, he became burdened by the magnitude of redundancy inherent in these resources when put together. He understood that these academic and professional works are still relevant to development even several years after publication especially when reviewed and or updated; and could go a long way to close the knowledge gaps on a global scale.

Observing that this wasteful trend within the research and academic sector ran across hundreds of higher institutions in Nigeria his home country alone, he decided to find a way to mitigate the loss and transform it into a gold mine across Africa region. He then set out to create this platform where dissertations, journal articles, research papers, professional and book publications could be made available to the global audience at a small fee to encourage the scholars, authors, and academicians across Nigeria and by extension Africa where cost of publishing is becoming so prohibitive to learning. It is also important to find ways to convert the useful hard copy research and academic materials idling away in shelves to digital resources for wider circulation.

Dr. Olusegun Edward OJO

Founder

"After a bachelor's degree, three Master’s degree and a PhD, I woke up one day to the realization that all the research work I had done in the many years of my academic and professional consulting pursuit were now nothing more than relics gathering dust at the back of my bookshelf or in computer folders.

The fact that I am only one out of millions of others in such situation made me realize the enormous amount of data that could be harnessed for the nations, continent and global village, which at present lie forgotten in libraries of numerous higher institutions and publishing houses in the African region

In comparison to the western world, I believe this is a massive waste of intellectual resources and raw data that future generations of researchers should access. In Western climes, we have various academic websites and scholarly platforms that make it possible for empirical research to continue contributing to future research and national decision making.

Why should Africa be left behind ?

Through RAR, I want to restore dignity to the field of research by creating an ecosystem where these bodies of knowledge with some in hard copy can be converted and distributed digitally.

I also believe that researchers and academicians from diverse backgrounds should be able to get some form of compensation beyond promotion at work, for their scholarly works by generating income in the form of royalties or subscription payments from those who choose to access their literary works. These researchers can earn some income while the reader can have easier access to a wide range of literature and data to close the information gaps.

"It is a win-win for everyone."

Click to read my professional bio and find out more about my global contributions in partnership with the European Union, World Bank and United Nations Agencies on “Making Cities more Resilient to Disasters”.                       

                     {Click to download or view my professional bio}