News Roundup
Obasanjo outlines vision for Nigerian Universities
Nov 24, 2004, 15:18
| | President Olusegun Obasanjo on 23 November presented his vision for universities in the country.
Represented by the Education Minister, Prof. Fabian Osuji, at the opening of the three-day maiden Nigerian Universities Research and Development Fair (NURESDEF) in Abuja, President Obasanjo challenged the modern university to possess “the capacity to capture and recapture the essence of that glorious world where knowledge and research rule. Government is very much aware that investment in university education, strategic as it is for the achievement of national self-reliance, will not be complete unless it is complemented fully with the production of quality research output for national development."
He expressed government’s appreciation of the modest achievements recorded by universities, particularly in the areas of pure and applied sciences, but challenged them to complement government's efforts by undertaking and producing quality research in space science, power and energy, biotechnology, oil and gas, agriculture and food production all of which fall within the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) framework as enshrined in the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) initiative.
“Universities, as public institutions, owe the society a duty to provide satisfactory answers to questions regarding the relevance of what they do and how they do it. They should also tell the society whether they are using their resources judiciously”, said the President.
In noting the weak link between universities and the Organised Private Sector (OPS) President Obasanjo asked investors to seriously consider partnerships with the universities as this is one of the ways by which the universities can be encouraged to carry out quality research and to compete favourably with their counterparts elsewhere in the world.
This will reduce their over-dependence on government for funding thereby reducing incidences of break in research and development work, he said.
The President urged the universities to build confidence and capacity by demonstrating high level of integrity and transparency in the management of the resources allocated to them so as to attract the desired partnership with the private sector, particularly from the small and medium enterprises.
Three-time Nobel Prize nominee and world famous mathematical physicist, Nigerian-born Prof. Gabriel Oyibo and Prof. Peter Okebukola of the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) both expressed hope that the fair would once again reopen the window of opportunity for the growth of the country.
The fair, organised by the NUC, was designed to bring the university system, the OPS and the general public together to explore possibilities for partnership and development.
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