A nation’s workforce consists of people who have been trained by a system. It could be formal (as in the case of primary, secondary and tertiary schools) or informal (as in the case of vocational skills). This system, whichever adopted by a particular country, must be efficient and good enough to prepare the next generation of workforce for nation building. In Nigeria, the formal facility is the most adopted to train skilled workers, while the informal facility is adopted for unskilled workers.
Nigeria depends on the university system to produce dependable workforce in fields such as engineering, medicine, arts and communication, education, etc. Consequently, President Muhammadu Buhari has declared that no nation can achieve accelerated development without a stable and respectable university system. He stressed that universities have the potential and responsibility of training the necessary human capital to drive the various development initiatives of government. The president made this declaration at the 33rd and 34th combined convocation of the University of Jos.
Universities in Nigeria should offer a roadmap to overcome problems.
At the event, Buhari said that the celebrations were a reflection of his administration’s commitment to the education sector and his firm belief that sustainable development can only be guaranteed by the quality of a nation’s human capital development. The president, who was represented by the executive secretary of the National University Commission (NUC), Prof. Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, said that the needs assessment program of Nigerian public universities and massive interventions by TETFund are being used to address challenges in infrastructure.
He noted that tertiary institutions in the country are gradually becoming models of excellence in the global education landscape. For instance, Buhari’s administration has constructed at least 83 internal road projects across federal tertiary institutions in the country. As a way of reciprocating this huge investment in the education sub-sector, he said that these schools must offer the country an essential roadmap for overcoming poverty, deprivation, and despair. This is because the job of universities is to answer hard questions, stimulate important national discourse, and bring solutions to the issues bedeviling the country.
President appeals to staff and students to see themselves as partners.
The commander-in-chief mentioned some of the notable achievements of the University of Jos that have attracted the attention of the government over the years. One of them is the school’s excellent performance in academic programs such as law, medicine, pharmacy, theater and film arts. Other achievements include the grant of $2 million in 2023 by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, breakthrough findings in the area of malaria and snake venom research, the recent landmark strides made as part of the consortium of researchers involved in the development of a homegrown COVID-19 vaccine.
This research was funded by the 2021 TETFund Mega Research Grant (Vaccine Production). On his account, the president appealed to the various students and members of staff on campus to consider themselves partners-in-progress in the rigorous task of repositioning the university system for optimal productivity and quality service delivery. Also, the new chancellor of the university, the Emir of Zazzau, His Highness, Ambassador Ahmed Nuhu Bamalli, recalled how the University of Jos was established in 1975 and today has become a preferred academic destination.
Chancellor pledges to continue the school’s legacy.
In his address, the chancellor said he sees his appointment as a patriotic call to duty and pledged not to spare any effort to make the university the envy of its peers. He also said that he intends to maintain the legacies of his predecessors by building trust and human connection as well as the ability to unearth common ground that will bring people closer to one another. Meanwhile, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Tanko Ishaya, called on the federal government to change the current funding model of universities as it is not sustainable.
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Stable university system needed for growth. – No nation can accelerate development without it, says Buhari. – Express your point of view.
Stable university system needed for growth. Nigeria Universities need reform especially the National Open University. Open University is growing but the management need to More
There is the need for overhauling of our University system. In most of these schools major equipment for research and learning are absent and the equipment presently use are obsolete. Unversity is very important for growth and development of a nation. Nigeria depends on the university system to produce dependable workforce in fields such as engineering, medicine, arts and communication, education, etc. It is very important that the Universities get it right before we have ourselves to blame.
The need for a stable university system in ensuring sustainable growth cannot be overstated. Providing a stable environment that allows for continuity of academic programs, attracting and retaining the best talent, fostering innovation and research, and creating a strong foundation for economic growth should be the priority of governments and the academic community.
We need stable university system growth. Education is key for country success. It brings about development and growth. We need to invest more on education
Nigeria education system still have a long way to go with a great need for huge infrastructure resources to overhaul the sector and be able to produce dependable workforce.
Our University which should be source of knowledge and development of our nation has witness severe retrogression in standard in the last decade. For every country that are doing well today, it all originated from the system of their university. Therefore Nigeria University system needs to be stable and up to world class standard for our country to grow.
Universities in Nigeria have the potential and responsibility of educating and bringing out the best human capital to drive several development in the country but they are incapacitated by lack of fund.
We need to remake our university system for better growth there some system that is needed to be adopt for the development of the system while some needed to be abolished education needs to be well taken care of to make it standard
Restructure of our education system is needed bring in necessary things to make the university standard and be on the right way for improvement
For a stable university system growth, there is need for them to have autonomy. With this, they will be able to function maximally and take control of their finances internally.