The Chairman of Access Bank Plc., Dr. Ajoritsedere Awosika, yesterday, charged financial institutions and other well-meaning Nigerians to assist in funding the education sector to ease the burden on government at all levels.
Awosika made the call in a lecture she delivered at the
fourth convocation ceremony of Chrisland University, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
The university which graduated 52 students awarded Honorary
Doctorate degrees to the Alake and Paramount Ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun
Aremu Gbadebo and the Vice Chairman of Famfa Oil Ltd., Mrs. Folorunso Alakija.
Awosika in her lecture titled: “The Visible and Invisible
Hands of Development: Interrogating the Roles of Tertiary Institutions and
Financial Sector in Nigeria,” specifically asked financial institutions to
provide more student-centered credit systems and support for tertiary education
in Nigeria.
She lamented that millions of young Nigerians were out of
school because of the inability of their parents to fund their education.
According to her, tertiary education remains out of the
reach of many Nigeria’s poorest and most marginalised and advocated for
strategic and effective investments in tertiary education.
She said: “Tertiary education is instrumental in fostering
growth, reducing poverty and boosting shared prosperity. It benefits not just
the individual, but the entire educational system.
“Tertiary, technical and vocational education and training
can provide an effective and efficient complement to traditional university
studies in providing students with skills and knowledge relevant to the labour
market.
“Larger numbers of students increase the strain on
publicly-funded institutions of higher learning and many countries with limited
resources are struggling to finance the growing needs of a larger student body,
without compromising the quality of their educational offerings.
“Both policies and academic degrees need to be strategically
tailored to fit the needs of the local society and economy. Only then can
governments realise the gains in primary and secondary attainment through
tertiary education access and progression and turn these successes into
increased and sustained economic and social development.”
According to her, “the benefits of tertiary education
include: higher employment levels, higher wages, greater social stability,
increased civic engagement and better health outcomes.”
In her address, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof.
Peace Chinedum Babalola disclosed that nine students out of the 52 graduands
graduated with First Class while 27 graduated with Second Class Upper Division
and 14 bagged Second Class Lower Division.
Babalola admonished the graduands to make use of the
entrepreneurial skills the university had equipped them with in creating wealth
and be self-sufficient.
She said, “My dear graduands be determined not to follow
people who will distract you from achieving your goals. Choose your friends
wisely.
“One advice I will give to you is do not have one source of
income. Do not be fraudulent, avoid internet crime and immorality.”
Highlighting some of the achievements of the institution,
which admitted its first seven students in 2016, Babalola said all programmes
of the institution have been fully accredited by the National University
Commission (NUC) and the professional bodies.
She specifically said the institution’s nursing programme
had been granted faculty status, saying the Nursing and Midwifery Council of
Nigeria had increased the students’ quota of the university from 50 to 150.
The vice Chancellor also disclosed that Chrisland
University, was rated 17 among universities in Nigeria and nine among private
universities.
While stating that graduates of the institution could
compete with their peers in the world, Babalola stated that apart from
Bachelor’s Degree being awarded, all graduates were also awarded Certificate in
Leadership Entrepreneurship Studies.
Part of the highlights of the convocation ceremony, were the
naming of the main road of the institution after Oba Aremu Gbadebo, the Alake
of Egbaland and inauguration of the school’s Faculty of Law.
0 comments:
Post a Comment