Dr Alfred Chiakor, Chairman, Planning Committee on a Public Lecture in honour of Prof. Emeritus Benedicta Egbo, said engendering sustainable development required significant overhaul and transformation of the country’s education system.
This is as he said that this would be done through visionary, innovative and pragmatic policies that were dialectically aligned with the country’s development goals.
Chiakor stated this in Abuja on Monday, during a news conference to unveil the forthcoming maiden lecture: “Reclaiming Nigeria’s Future: Strategic Frameworks for Achieving transformative Change”.
He said the lecture slated for Thursday March 21, would also unveil the presentation of Prof. Benedicta Egbo’s book entitled: ‘Education and Sustainable Development in 21st Century’.
According to him, the wellbeing and future of our dear country, Nigeria, including its security, territorial integrity and development is the collective responsibility of every citizen, whether private or public; at home or in the diaspora.
“We must as a matter of urgency put aside all prejudices to help forge a common front to confront the challenges that are threatening the integrity of our corporate existence as a people and as a nation.
“It is incumbent on us all therefore to engage robustly on how to deter and mitigate these challenges in a systematic and coordinated manner. This way, we can be sure of preserving our collective heritage and the sanctity of our nation,” he said.
Chiakor added that the current realities required that we see it as a patriotic duty to contribute to the processes of articulating choices in promoting the ideals of nation building, socio-economic progress and transformative change at this critical time of our national consciousness.
According to him, the intensity of pressures and challenges facing the nation, makes it imperative to promote robust nation building endeavours and discourse such as this public lecture.
He further urged stakeholders to desist from placing emphasis on certification but rather on character building.
According to him, over 85 per cent of students cannot defend their certificate. What we need today is connecting the traditional value system to education which connect learners to value.
Professor Benedicta Egbo is a Professor Emeritus of education at the University of Windsor, Canada. She is also a former Director of the Joint PhD in Educational Studies Programme which is jointly offered by a consortium of three Canadian Universities.