Prominent Nigerians gathered at the Agip Hall of Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos, to proffer solutions that could make the nation work. They all agreed the narrative must change if Nigeria must be great again, write TAJUDEEN ADEBANJO and OMOLOLA AFOLABI.
Can Nigeria ever make headway out of the crises presently bedeviling it? Will Nigeria ever emerge and occupy its place among the leading nations of the world or will it just remain a clay-footed giant? Are these present crops of leaders and politicians the messiahs to lead the nation out of the woods? These are among the many posers that the galaxies of the nation’s brightest minds were set to crack inside the ornately decorated Agip Hall of the Muson Centre. They came to dissect the various challenges drawing the nation back.
Many of them wondered why the country is not developing at a fast pace, despite abundance of material and human resources.
Agip Hall of Muson Center, Onikan, Lagos was filled with brains. The intelligentsia and the literati came to honour the late Voice of Reason Founder, Prince Goke Omisore, in whose memory the lecture was organised.
The theme of the lecture is; Restructuring: Building a Knowledge-Based Economy.
VOR Chairman Femi Adegoke said the event was put together to extol the virtues of Goke Omisore, a man who used his lifetime to fight for the restructuring of Nigeria but never got his desire. He said his friends decided to continue with the fight as a mark of honour for him.
“While we consistently push toward a restructured Nigeria, we need to let the government and relevant stakeholders understand that this is the era of ideas, innovations, creativity and digital communications, therefore, there’s a need to fund research and innovations in this country if not, danger looms.
“We put this event together to free up the creative energies of the people of Nigeria especially the younger generation and domesticate responsibility and accountability. We want a Nigeria where people, through innovations, can creatively compete with global economies against the current trend of consuming without building,” Adegoke said.
The Chief Executive Officer of American Defence Corporation, United States, Prof James Ayinde Fabunmi, who opened the floor after recognition of the dignitaries, argued that without promoting a knowledge-based economy and society, poverty, hunger, starvation and economic degradation will continue to boom like the waves of the ocean across the length and the breadth of the country.
In a knowledge-based society, wealth, he said, is created by engaging human knowledge for value addition and delivery of services.
The Ile-Ife-born renowned innovator descried a situation whereby materials are exported with no added value.
“Whereas if human knowledge were used to add value to natural resources before being exported, we would be selling high and buying low, leading to a gain of wealth. As a matter of fact, there are nation-states with little or no natural resources, yet they thrive because they managed to develop an economy that relies exclusively on value addition based application of human knowledge.”
Fabunmi said Nigeria, for no justification, is selling her natural resources low and buying finished products high. He demanded a total overhauling of the education and political system.
The occasion Chairman, Aare Afe Babalola, Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State (ABUAD) said the country is building a den of under-development if those saddled with the responsibility of political leadership continue to pay lip service to funding of quality education, research and development.
Represented by the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof Kunle Olowu, Aare Babalola said the country is heading southwards, if education is not considered as a catalyst for development.
“As a University administrator, I can say a lot on the education system of Nigeria. If we do not fund education and promote research and innovation, we are going nowhere. I appeal to the elites to consider one fact: If American elites behave like Nigerian elites, would there be an American University for them to take their children to? For the sake of our grandchildren, let us build an economy and country that encourages innovations and research,” he said.
In his contribution, Afenifere Chieftain and elder statesman Pa. Ayo Adebanjo said at 92, he is concerned about the future of Nigeria because the country has been very unlucky with leadership.
“I want to challenge the younger generation to take their destiny in their hands. There is little I can do, the energy is no longer there. I want you to take the bull by the horn. Take Nigeria back from the hands of your oppressors and build a society that will make you proud among fellow young people in the global economy,” he said.
Former Vice-Chancellor, University of Lagos, Prof. Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe, said vice-chancellors in Nigeria treat high-blood pressure daily, because of over-thinking of how to manage their institutions due to low budgetary allocation to education.
He urged the central government and state governors to fund research and innovation so that Nigerian graduates can compete with their colleagues globally.
Social Entrepreneur, Mrs Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji urged the students at the lecture to challenge the older generation to demand for a better Nigeria, stressing that the elites are only willing to leave the stage for their children currently being raised in Harvard, Oxford, and Buckingham to take over.
She said Nigeria has been so backward that the leadership are fighting a supremacy battle over Amotekun, when countries including Ghana are already fighting security quagmires with drones, satellite and robotics.
She said: “Nigeria is backward educationally. It is so bad that our governors are fighting the Presidency over Amotekun when countries of the world including neighbouring Ghana are already using drones, robotics, and other technology borne out of research to combat insecurity.
“In Nigeria, a graduate of Mechanical Engineering would call an illiterate auto-mechanic to fix his faulty car. Most graduates of Electrical Engineering in Nigeria cannot repair damaged electrical sockets. They need local electricians to do it for them.
“The political elites in Nigeria love our backwardness because if Nigeria is developed, their wealth and hegemony will reduce. Our computer science graduates in Nigeria cannot type on Microsoft word. It is that bad.
“The Federal Government should invest in innovation and research. Education is the only weapon we can use to amazingly wage war against hunger, insecurity, unemployment. Facebook is a mere application but today, it is one of the richest companies in the world. That is what research and innovation can do for a nation.”
The panelists among who are included the former Vice-Chancellor, Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Prof. Kayode Makinde, United Nation trained Developmental Economist, Mr. Bolaji Ogunseye unanimously posited that the budgetary allocation, infrastructures, hunger, poverty, starvation and deluded political structures of Nigeria does not encourage a knowledge that is research and innovation-driven.
The lecture, attended by Governor Babajide Sanwo-olu represented by the Special Adviser on Drainage and Water Resources, Mr Joe Igbokwe; the Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, represented by the Secretary to the State Government,. Ifedayo Abegunde, Aare Ona kakanfo of Yorubaland, Aare Gani Adams, the Chairman of Elizade Group, Chief Michael Ade-Ojo, President-General, Ohaneze Ndigbo, Chief John Nwodo, former PDP Lagos State governorship candidate Mr. Jimi Agbaje, former Works Minister, Chief Adesegun Ogunlewe and the Patriarch of Omisore dynasty of Ile-Ife, Chief Ezekiel Iyiola Omisore.
Others include VOR members Arc. Lanre Towry-Coker, Otunba Deji Osibogun, Dr. Ladi Awosika, Dr. Ebun Sonaiya, ex-Chairman of Nigerian-Danish Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Chief Olufemi Kufo, Dr. Seyi Roberts, Dr. Leke Oshuniyi, and Otunba Remi Abdul amongst others.