Former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo
has expressed concern over the unemployment rate in the country,
stressing that if urgent steps are not taking to address it, “the
country may be sitting on a keg of gun powder.”
He expressed this concern on Saturday at
the 16th and 17th convocation of the Tai Solarin University of
Education, Ijagun, Ijebu Ode, Ogun State.
The institution was also marking its 10th anniversary.
Obasanjo, who advised the graduating
students to think outside the box to discover what they could do
positively on their own to survive, noted that the state and federal
governments must take the issue of job creation seriously.
He said, “If there is no job for the
unemployed to feed themselves and also to contribute to the development
of the country then, we will all be sitting on a keg of gun powder.
“We should be able to break the cycle of
poverty, through job and wealth creations. We can achieve this at both
the federal, state, local, family and individual levels.
“We must all see education as a tool for
making positive contributions to our country. But, if after your
education, there is no job, you must be able to think outside the box
positively, that is one advantage education has provided for you and not
making you a tool for evil machinations.”
Obasanjo, who was conferred with the
honorary doctorate degree in Political Science, alongside the late
matriarch of Awolowo family dynasty, Mrs. Hannah Idowu Dideolu Awolowo
and business mogul, Aliko Dangote, said his administration had 12 years
ago mooted the idea of elevating four federal Colleges of Education into
universities of education.
But he added that it was the National Universities Commission that should explain why it did not take action on it.
He said the colleges the Federal
Government had proposed to upgrade included Adeyemi College of
Education, Ivan Ikoku College of Education, and two others in Kano and
Zaria.
Obasanjo commended the Ogun State
government for taking up the initiative to establish the first
University of Education in Nigeria.
He said, “The idea of creating a
university of education in Nigeria came up 12 years ago, when I was the
President of the country. I had thought that if we could have
specialised universities for agriculture, specialised universities for
science and technology, why not for education? Why can we not have a
university designated for education?
“At that time at the federal level, four
Colleges of Education, which belong to the Federal Government would
have been turned into universities of education. They include the
Adeyemi College of Education in Ondo, Ivan Ikoku College of Education,
one in Kano and I think the other in Zaria. We were ready to go (well,
why we could not go, Peter Okebukola is here, you can ask him and he
will tell you).
“Well, the Ogun State government took
this initiative and behold, we had the first University of Education in
Ogun State. Mr. Governor, please help us to thank your predecessor for
this.”
Obasanjo said he accepted the award,
even when he had rejected the one from his own The BELLS University of
Technology, Ota, because of the name, Tai Solarin, which the university
was named after.
He added that he accepted the honorary
doctorate degree because the late HID, was also given a posthumous
doctorate degree, describing her as “a role model as far as education
development is concerned in Nigeria.”
The state Governor, Senator Ibikunle
Amosun, said the convocation marked the continued demonstration of his
government’s commitment to the production of qualified teaching
personnel for the nation’s education system.
He noted that a university should be a
place where fresh ideas should be generated and reflected in the
environment where such an institution was located.
He said, “Let me enjoin you all that a
university where ideas and ideals are always traded can never be static
in outlook and in conduct. It must be dynamic always, interfacing and
responding to its environment and all the challenges of its operating
millieu.”
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oluyemisi
Obilade, in her welcome address, said the institution was positioned to
respond to national and global educational needs.
She added that the institution had
equipped the graduating students with the necessary skills as well as
content knowledge for effective teaching and learning.
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