How can an IR contribute to an international journey of halving extreme poverty,
halting the spread of HIV/AIDS, providing universal primary education, amongst others in
developing countries like Africa? It seems strange! But it should not, because this study has
cited a good number of researches that agree that information drives development. As an
information dissemination medium, IRs consists of formally organized and managed
collections of digital content created by faculty, staff and students of an institution. Lynch
(2003) and Ottaviani and Snavely (2003) strongly believe that the perfection of teaching,
learning and research lies on availability of publications and other research models. While
this is a common knowledge that needs not to be argued on, it is much simpler to conceive
that the ability to do or observe something demands learning through listening, reading or
practice. As a matter of fact, the concept of education, information and knowledge in
general requires that both the actor be trained to act and the spectator be taught to watch
beneficially. So, the availability of publications and scholarly research of various kinds
which cuts across diverse fields and discipline, for public use and reuse, is a plight that will
increase the transfer of information needed by: the teacher to teach, the researcher to come
up with new research, the information user to use it without limits, the planner to plan
based on new realities and, the government to govern under emerging policies –
economically, politically and otherwise.