Clamour for 21st century varsities in Nigeria
Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) have been identified as the catalysts to Nigeria’s quest to achieve 21st Century universities which will be able to compete globally in terms of knowledge and ingenuity.
Higher education has undergone several massive changes in the 21st Century; essentially due to increased access to information, while university enrolment has more than doubled within the period.
The universities’ role in the 21st Century is disseminating and advancing knowledge through scholarship and research and they act as catalyst for change in an increasingly “knowledgebased” society.
Secretary to the Adamawa State Government (SSG), Engr. Umar Bindir, who is a former Chief Executive Officer of the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP); said in order to have 21st Century universities, STI was a key ingredient to facilitate the process through resounding researches to be carried out by the universities.
Bindir said this would enable universities to bring about prosperity, unity, peace, wealth creation, competence and job creation.
Speaking on the topic: “Universities of the 21st Century: The Role of Science, Technology and Innovation System on Sustainable Development” at the recent University of Abuja preconvocation lecture, he said Nigeria, with a population of nearly 200 million, with teeming number of young people and entrepreneurs, had high rate of poverty; between 60 and 70 per cent.
He attributed the poverty rate to weak infrastructure, weak local industries, corruption, insecurity and emerging challenges of the environment.
These, according to him, were evident in Nigeria having few or no global products, companies, skills and capacity services, adding that, achieving these firmly depended on the vibrant connectivity and efficiency of good knowledge and industry hinged on an effective STI system.
While noting that Nigerians’ taste was dominated by inflow of foreign know-how as a result of clear weakness of the indigenous knowledge system, he pointed the anomaly as the effect of dearth in 21st Century institutions and their STI outputs for sustainable development.
He, however, noted that to create a functional STI system, there was need to transform graduates of universities and polytechnics by establishing training centres, research and development and experimental centres, production and industrial centres, as well as students collaborating nationally and internationally.
Engr. Bindir recommended that for ivory towers in the country to be identified as 21st Century universities, there was the need to take advantage, identify, collate and proudly promote STI output by building critical mass of technopreneurial manpower.
He said knowledge should be linked to socio-economic development.
This, he noted, could be done through the establishment of science and technology parks.
Corroborating Bindir, the Visitor of the 22nd Convocation, President Muhammadu Buhari, urged the institutions to conduct cutting-edge researches.
President Buhari recognised the unparalleled role of universities as catalyst of industrialisation and the knowledge economy.
Buhari, represented by the Deputy Director of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Chiedu Mafiana, directed the commission to mobilise the university community to engage their intellectual prowess to provide answers to the impending boost in Nigeria’ s population.
The president, who noted that by 2050, Nigeria would be the third most populous country in the world, said it was incumbent on Nigerian universities to begin researches into and analyse the implication of the impending development.
He added that government would devote attention to technical and vocational education training to impart the necessary skills to youths in a bid to provide the requisite competent and self-reliant personnel that could sustain the nation’s economic activities for the required socio economic transformation.
The university awarded degrees to 7,148 students: 16 first class, 507 second class upper, 3,143 second class lower, 3,160 third class and 180 pass.
The university also awarded honorary degrees to the late Dr. Yusuf Bala Usman, Pastor W. F. Kumuyi and Alhaji Dikko A. Aliyu.
In his justification, Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Michael Adikwu, said the recipients of the honourary degrees were honoured for their contribution in the education sector.
He also urged the graduates to be worthy ambassadors of the university by living up to its calling as a centre for learning and moulding of good character.
Meanwhile, Pst. Kumuyi who responded on behalf of the recipients, said they were proud to be associated with the university and would continue to contribute their quota to the development of the university community with commitment and passion.
While congratulating the graduates, he said they must be determined to use knowledge that they had gained to help transform Nigeria into the global economic power house that it is destined to be.