Universities should drive economic growth, Aregbesola

By Femi Agbana
Nigerian universities should drive the country’s industrial growth, the Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has said.
He argued that for Nigeria to take a giant leap from a developing nation to the comity of first world countries, there must be a synergy between the industrial sector and the country’s academic community. His speech was made available to Irohinoodua.

He said this represents one of the most creative ways Nigerians can create and redistribute wealth, earn better income through production away from consumption of mainly foreign goods. He said Universities need to be relevant to the political economy in order to ensure graduates meet their desire to meaningfully impact their skills and potentials on the country’s wellbeing.

Aregbesola spoke as the guest lecturer at the 10th Convocation‎ Lecture of Lead City University, Ibadan. In the lecture titled, "Evolution of Private University Education and Issues Miscellany in Governance of the Federation", he said 50 million jobs will turn Nigeria into an economic power in two decades.

“I will like to posit that we should get 50 million of our compatriots to be working i.e. engaged in productive activities that will bring them at least N25,000 a month. From this, N1.25 trillion will be generated in the economy every month from real productive engagement
“These jobs can be created and paid for by ways and means in diverse areas of the economy like agriculture and food production, clothing and footwear, housing, environment, critical public infrastructure like roads, bridges, airports, railways, water resources development etc that will provide basic needs for the people and cut imports by 90 per cent, reducing foreign goods to critical machineries and raw materials we do not have at home. This will catapult Nigeria into a superpower within two decades”, he noted.
Aregbesola traced the history of private university to the emergence of Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, Babcock University, Ilisan Remo, Ogun State and Madonna University, Ikija, Anambra State in 1999.

The Governor described the period as a time when applications to the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) University Matriculation Examination (UME) had peaked at over 750,000, but the maximum admission granted was a paltry 50,000.
He emphasised that such action has disoriented more than 700,000 qualified secondary school leavers who could not find placement in the federal and state universities at the time.
‎Aregbesola noted that one of the challenges of society that the universities must solve is how to see university education as a compulsory social service which must be provided to the largest number of people at little cost.

Aregbesola lamented a situation where only the children of very few could afford the fees of private universities. According to him, "no civil servant can, from his or her legitimate earnings, afford these schools and their fees for their children. This has created a problem on its own. Recently, some students could not pay their fees in a university because they invested in Ponzi schemes that went flat and lost their money.
"One of the challenges of society that the universities must solve is how to see university education as a compulsory social service and which must be provided to the largest number of people at little cost.

"The next question, of course, is what happens to the students after they leave school. It has become fashionable to proudly claim to have attended a private university, for those who could not travel abroad. Whereas, the job market presently is saturated.
"The challenges of the time are different now. During the colonial period, high level manpower
was needed to fill vacancies in the public service and the trading outposts of the metropolitan multinationals.

"A job, a car and a house were waiting for any graduate, irrespective of the course of study. The first graduates recruited into the Nigerian petroleum agency, the precursor of NNPC, studied physics.

"While the companies came to interview the students in their final year for placement, the joke then was that the students were the ones interviewing their employers because they were looking for the company making the best offer to join". The Governor stressed.
‎He urged the graduating students of the university, to equip themselves with extreme courage and ‎confidence and not to be intimidated as they are moving into the labour world.

"Since life itself is full of challenges, then you must conquer your fears, anxiety and anything that can intimidate you as you are expected to be the solution providers in the new world you are transiting to” he told the graduates.

Aregbesola also urged the universities to be more beneficial to the society and make it better through research and new ideas.

In his welcome address, the Vice Chancellor, Lead ‎City University, Ibadan, Professor Kabir Adeyemo, said the university annually convenes the convocation lecture as part of efforts to strengthen education and knowledge acquisition.
Prof. Adeyemo commended Governor Aregbesola for registering his quality leadership in the political space in the country, saying his high level of intellectual capacity qualified him to be invited to deliver the institution's 10th convocation lecture.