The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has said it’s imperative for Nigeria and other other African countries to change from their old ways of education in order to restore the glory of the black race.
Dogara gave the advice on Friday during the 16th Matriculation Lecture of the Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State.
He spoke on the theme: “Leadership By Products:The Role of Universities,” noting that education in Nigeria and other African countries did not encourage students to discover their potentials and skills.
Dogara said, “Education must get to a stage our universities will only absorb good brains, no matter who your father or mother is.”
He, however, said the country needed more than education to make impact in Africa and the world.
“Education is not the necessary key to success. If education were to be the key to success, professors and other intellectuals would have been successful,” he said.
He urged universities to focus on ways to bring out the potentials in each students, which he said would prepare them for the future ahead.
The Speaker also advised the nation’s universities to be innovative in training graduates so as to achieve a sustainable national development.
According to him, no nation can move forward and achieve meaningful development without innovations and qualitative education.
”It is compulsory for nation’s tertiary institutions to be innovative and qualitative in the area of education so as to attract foreign ranking and national development ,” Dogara said.
He added that the National Assembly would consider policies that would bring about improved innovations and qualitative education across the nation’s universities so as impact positively on national development.
He said that Covenant University was already ahead in producing innovative and qualitative education, urging the matriculating students and other universities to key into it.
The Chancellor of the institution, Dr. David Oyedepo, urged the matriculating students to be disciplined in achieving their goals so as to raise the dignity of the black man.
