Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has raised alarm over the danger it portends to Nigeria, if urgent steps are not taken by government to address the problem of more than 14 million out of school children in the country.
Obasanjo raising the alarm during the Chrisland University's Second Convocation in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, identified lack of formal education and stagnated development as some of the biggest problems plaguing the country.
The former president , according to a release by Cletus Ilobanafor, the Media Consultant to the university, expressed his worry while speaking as the Chairman of the Convocation.
The highly disturbed Obasanjo said that alarming figure of children who ought to be in school but are on the streets should be a source of worry to whoever wanted the best for the country and Africa as a whole.
“We have 14million children that should be in school and are not in school; that’s more than the population of many African countries.”, he lamented.
He how ever enjoined the graduating students to remain focused, expressing confidence in their abilities to achieve great feats in future in spite of the difficulties in Nigeria.
Also, Governor Dapo Abiodun who was, represented by the Commissioner for Education, Prof Abayomi Arigbabu, charges Chrisland University to produce more manpower to address some of the country’s challenges while congratulating Institution on its second convocation.
Wife of Ogun State Governor, Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun, also commended the university management for working round the clock to ensure that the convocation held, saying that “the year 2020 has been challenging for all of us but through it all, you have put together a splendid ceremony. I say well done and I have the assurance that you will continue to lift this banner of excellence”.
The university's Vice Chancellor, Prof Chinedum Babalola, expressed satisfaction with the quality of 28 graduands who were awarded with Bachelor degrees and professional certificates in entrepreneurship.
She added that their training in the university had also equipped them with skills for self-employment, saying that management of the University is proud of them for being part of the institution's history.
The Vice-Chancellor said that among the 28 graduates, five of them, who are all females, made First Class while Folashade Kikelomo Mary, with 4.80 CGPA, from the College of Natural and Applied Sciences, emerged as the overall best graduating students.
The university according to her, had instilled in the students entrepreneurial skills that would turn them into job creators and not job seekers.
The guest speaker at the convocation, Commissioner for Human Resources, Science and Technology, African Union, Prof Sarah Anyang Agbor, charged African leaders to have the strong political will to ensure sustainable growth and impact the people for good.
Agbor who was delivering the convocation lecture with the theme “Leadership, Sustainable Growth, and National Building in Africa: A Reflective Perspective” explained that among the critical issues Africa faces today is the bludgeoning youth population and with it, the challenge of youth unemployment saying that data from the National Bureau of Statistics here in the country reveals that unemployment rate as at the second quarter of 2020 was 27.1percent.
She stressed the need for governance and effective Leadership for Africa to actualize Africa Union's vision ..
“Show me a leader with a penchant to serve his people, meet the needs and aspirations of his citizens, and achieve collective growth for the populace and I will show you a leader who is result-performance oriented and implements good governance.”
No comments:
Post a Comment