‘Nigeria May Not Benefit From Global Economy If Education Sector Is Neglected’

The immediate past managing director and Editor-in-Chief of the Guardian Newspaper, Mr Martin Oloja, on Thursday, said Nigeria might not benefit from the emerging global economy due to the present poor state of the educational sector.

Oloja said the country can’t excel nor make progress unless the stakeholders get angry about the state of schools, especially the universities, where research drives sustainable development goals.

Speaking at the 11th Distinguished Lecture of the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, Oloja also urged the federal government to halt the “hollow rituals” called licensing of new private universities and the federal government’s obsession with political projects called federal universities in all the states of the federation.

In the lecture titled: “Can The Universities Trigger National Development Amid Economic Challenges?” Oloja noted the time to pay attention to better rather than more universities “whose products cannot contribute to national development, no thanks to poor funding.”

He says, “No nation will neglect its educational institutions and expect to progress. Therefore, society should employ capable hands and motivate them to settle the much-vexed quality issues in the academic sector.

“Fanciful speeches cannot improve the condition of things. Miracles don’t just happen. Many Nigerians have been harping on moving the nation forward without taking practical steps to accomplish that.”

While noting that no nation will neglect its educational institutions and expect to progress, Oloja said, “How did an education agency regulator, for instance, insist for so long that Law graduates from an Open University cannot be admitted into Law School in the 21st century when even most medical and engineering courses are now offered online with the power of digital technologies?”

His words, “The government should get off the high horse and take concrete action towards resolving the crisis in the educational sector. Without treating the crisis in education as a public health issue that requires serious attention, as this writer had noted elsewhere, the youths would continue to receive inferior education.

“The colourful words are wisdom only to those who do not contemplate essential reforms in the area. Nigeria cannot talk of improving its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) without improving its educational system and business environment.

“Good quality education and a good business environment are among the primary means to spur an economy and improve people’s productivity and living standards, which would strengthen global competitiveness.”