Aregbesola Commends OAU VC, Says Education Is Critical To National Development

Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Governor of the state of Osun, has said that education is very critical to the realisation of sustainable national development and the achievement of national security.
The governor used the occasion to commend Vice-chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) who according to him, stood against the highest civilian attempt to stage a coup against democracy ‎at the recently concluded governorship election in the state.
Aregbesola, while delivering his lecture on Wednesday, as a guest lecturer on the title: “Education as a panacea to National insecurity and developmental challenges”‎‎ at the 6th Prince Bola Ajibola annual lecture series, organised by the Magna Curia chambers of Obafemi Awolowo University, held at the University’s Oduduwa hall in Ile-Ife, observed that ‎‎ for any society to achieve enduring progress, education must be the unavoidable bedrock of its efforts.
He maintained that for Nigeria to develop human capacity for the kind of productivity that will impact national socio-economic development, the path to follow is the education track.
“In engaging with the issue of education as a remedy for national insecurity and developmental challenges, I wish to contend that a conception of education as a process rather than as a tool will do us a whole world of good.
“To conceive education as an instrument meant to be deployed in achieving certain practical ends is to conclude that education is all about physical development of people. ‎
“Sadly, the Nigerian state today is assailed by manifold layers of insecurity and its progress is hampered by a myriad of developmental challenges all because of the continual erosion in the quality and standard of its educational system,” the governor pointed out.‎
‎He further disclosed that lack of adequate investment in education by successive administrations in Nigeria has crippled the educational system to an extent that what seems to matter is the acquisition of certificates.
Aregbesola opined that there is no reason why the children and youths in parts of the North and the Niger Delta region of Nigeria should not have the same quality education as their mates in other parts of the country.
According to the governor, “even in the South West, where we used to have a 50 years education head start, it is no longer a bed of roses.
“When our administration came in 2010, we discovered to our chagrin, from the SSSCE result of that year, that just about five percent of the candidates from Osun had the requisite pass needed for matriculation into higher institutions.
“The Nigerian leadership must heed and lead the response to the voices urging restructuring of the country’s educational system.”
The governor emphasised that, the restructuring of educational system must be one that create opportunities for youths to develop their natural abilities to the highest extent feasible, adding that youths must be trained to be self-reliant, creative and productive.
Prof. Nurudeen Adedipe, Chairman of the occasion, in an address made a comparison between Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and the President of the United States of America through their philosophy of believing that everything can be done. Adedipe also described the Governor as an uncommon man who has turned education around in the state.
“There is a link between the philosophy of Aregbesola and president Obama of USA in terms of their philosophy of everything is possible, the link between Rauf Aregbesola and development is what I can call excellent per say.
“You might also want to call him an uncommon Governor because he is the only Governor who has been able to develop a link between education and development which is why he is spending so much on the development of education in the state.
“He has been able to link politicking and the business of caring for the well-being of his people successfully, which is very uncommon among our politicians of today,” he opined.
Prof. Bamitale Omole, Vice Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, ably represented by Prof. Ajayi Adebisi, Deputy Vice Chancellor, stressed that the topic of the lecture is most appropriate at the time the nation is facing security challenges.
As Adebisi summed, he observed that the Governor is in a better position to deliver a lecture on the topic going by his efforts in putting the state in a better position, especially in the education sector.‎
NIGERIAN POLITICS ONLINE