‘We will support academic research to solve economic problems’- Dogara

Afolabi Adesola

Rt Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara has declared the full support of the National Assembly towards academic research that will solve pressing economic problems.

Dogara who was the Guest lecturer at the 16th matriculation ceremony of the Covenant University, in Ota, Ogun state, also disclosed that the National Assembly will consider laws that will promote quality education, innovation and research.

Dogara while delivering the keynote lecture at the event titled “Leadership by Products: The Role of Universities” said “Our roles as leaders is to make available adequate facilities in form of student loans and others to ensure that the right products are created.

He stressed that the need for more innovative training of students in the nation’s universities will ensure a sustainable national development.

He charged institutions to “discard the colonial masters’ style of churning out products that will depend on the world to survive, but to create products that the world can depend on to survive”

According to him, no nation can move forward and achieve any meaningful development without innovations achievable through qualitative education.

“It is important for the nation’s tertiary institutions to be innovative and qualitative in education, so as to attract foreign ranking and national development”.

Dogara noted that Covenant University was already ahead in promoting innovative and qualitative education, urging the matriculated students and their counterparts in other universities to key into it.

Delivering the closing remarks, the chancellor of the institution, Dr David Oyedepo, said that students must imbibe a new way of thinking to achieve the desired future.

Oyedepo said university graduates could only compete favourably with ‘what is available and not what is not available’. He said that until jobs creators took over the scenes, the problems of unemployment would continue unabated in the country.

The chancellor, however, advised the students to be disciplined in the course of achieving their goals, in order to raise the dignity of the black man.