There is a growing need for robust, accessible, interoperable, and sustainable repositories to host scholarly outputs across African institutions. Many Nigerian universities either lack institutional repositories or operate underperforming systems, limiting their ability to effectively support open access and reducing the discoverability, accessibility, and indexing of their scholarly outputs. This infrastructure gap results in missed regional and international collaboration opportunities, underutilisation of valuable research, and a diminished global impact of Nigerian scholarly outputs.
To address this challenge, the RUMBU Initiative invites Nigerian tertiary education and research institutions to participate in a community-driven pilot to establish an open-access repository platform. Anchored in the strategic vision of LIBSENSE in Nigeria, and in partnership with the NREN community and the Association of University Librarians of Nigerian Universities (AULNU), this initiative aims to leverage shared infrastructure to foster collaboration, enhance research visibility, and ensure compliance with global open science standards. The project will leverage international collaboration through WACREN to facilitate the deployment and operation of the repository platform. It will employ institutional identity providers (IdPs) participating in the Nigerian Identity Federation for the authentication framework.
Objective
- Deploy a shared, open-access repository platform to:
- Address the fresh need for repositories in institutions that currently lack them.
- Upgrade or replace outdated or ineffective repositories, particularly those with limited storage, poor access, or a lack of interoperability and local control.
- Advance the discoverability, interoperability, and reuse of Nigerian scholarly outputs by combining technical validation, monitoring tools, and capacity-building to align Nigerian repositories with FAIR principles and boost global visibility.
- Build technical and governance capacity across participating institutions and complement national platforms by feeding into broader research infrastructure ecosystems and policy objectives.
- Support compliance with national and international research and open science policies, and foster collaboration and long-term sustainability through effective funding models.
Eligibility
- Participation is open to Nigerian universities and research institutions, whether federal, state, or private, that are currently accredited by one of the following regulatory bodies:
- National Universities Commission (NUC)
- National Board for Technical Education (NBTE)
- National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE)
- Recognised Federal or State Research Institutions in Nigeria.
- Willingness to participate in a discovery phase to assess repository needs and co-design the pilot.
- Commitment to designating a focal person as the primary contact and supporting project coordination.
How to Apply: Interested institutions should complete this survey to provide basic institutional details, including repository status and needs, motivation for joining the pilot, and a designated institutional contact person. Please complete and submit this form by June 27, 2025. For questions or further information, please contact: rumbu@ren.ng
Selected institutions will be invited to a collaborative discovery and planning phase beginning July 2025, during which institutional needs assessments will be conducted to define the scope, design, and implementation of the shared repository platform.