Education can lift Nigerians out of abject poverty- Osinbajo
Esther Taiwo, Lagos
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has posited that through improvement in learning and quality education, Nigerians can be lifted from abject poverty, just as he stressed that education is the most vital tool for the development of any nation.
He also added that education is the most powerful force for socio-economic change in the world.
The Vice President disclosed this while delivering the 23rd Lagos state University convocation lecture titled: “Africa centres of excellence in African universities: A veritable catalyst for nation building and development” at the main auditorium of the university in Ojo, Lagos recently.
According to him, centres of excellence must be an apex of the educational system and also build research collaboration to find a solution to regional challenges. He expressed that the federal government’s commitment to collaborate with the university, saying education is the most important force for global change.
Prof. Osinbajo emphasized the need for the nation to place more premium on girl -child education, saying on the average, girls are smarter than boys and any nation that does not educate girls will ruin itself.
Osinbajo restated that government was committed to bringing back children that were out -of -school, saying all hands must be on deck to redesign the nation’s education curriculum.
Speaking earlier, former Ghanian President, John Dramani Mahama urged African universities to move away from the colonial system of education and focus on science and technology.
Mahama, who was the chairman of the convocation lecture stated that universities must provide visionary leadership, have academic autonomy saying political institutions must avoid interference with the running of academic institutions.
Speaking on how African universities can set the tone as African centres of excellence, the former Ghanian President, however, said to achieve this they must be adequately funded.
He stated that African universities must collaborate with each other, adding that they should have multiple campuses for different specializations in different countries.
Mahama said African universities could help bridge the gap created in African countries by focusing on science, technology and innovation which could be the catalysts for the development of Africa.
In his short speech at the event, the outgoing governor of the state and visitor to LASU, Akinwunmi Ambode noted that every mark of development visible on the university’s campus was a function of effective leadership of the institution.
