Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy can only achieve her desire of a new country that will compete with other first world countries by addressing growth stimulators such as Human capital development, Knowledge gap and aggressive attraction of investment. An industry expert has said.
He observes that to restore the dignity of Nigeria and create the human resource capacity that will drive economic growth into the future, governments at levels in must pursue with single- minded focus issues around high level and functional (skill- Based) education.
Sam Ohuabunwa, president and chairman, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria opines that enthronement of public –private partnership and the encouragement of private investment in education especially vocational and tertiary education will go a long way in accomplishing this daunting task.
Ohuabunwa while delivering the sixth public lecture at Crawford University, Igbesa, Ogun, observes that Nigeria’s educational system has suffered mostly from in appropriate planning and perennially poor funding; adding that despite all the talk about free education, handing over primary education to the local government is a misnomer.
According to him, “The current local government system in many parts of Nigeria cannot deliver the change in foundational education required to ignite the proposed revolution in our educational system”
Speaking on the lecture title, ‘When will Nigeria become a first world Nation?’ Ohuabunwa said Nigeria must quadruple its rate of digital technology adoption and application.
“Nigeria must invest heavily in artificial intelligence and be active in the stratosphere. Related to this is the huge investment in research and development” he said.
He further opines that if Nigeria must exit this third world status, she must exploit its areas of comparative advantage and unleash an export driven growth strategy centered on non-oil.
On the factor around aggressive attraction of investment, Ohuabunwa said that the government cannot make this happen, no matter how much its tries. He called for the involvement of domestic investment backed by high foreign direct investment (FDI)
To him, “Investment create enterprise, enterprise create jobs, jobs create wealth and wealth drives away poverty”
He maintains that all government need to do is a sensible policy, creation of incentives and removal of government bureaucracy , adding that sustained application of these policies for a minimum of eight years will catapult Nigeria into a developed country.
On his part, Isaac Rotimi Ajayi, vice chancellor, Crawford University, in address at the lecture said it is heart warming to have someone like Ohuabunwa give the lecture especially in a nation that has not only chosen to live in a voluntary oblivion of her history, as well as bereft of good example of people in our public space.
Ajayi lauded him for the providing the require insight of “how” and the “when,” Nigeria would cross the threshold of mediocrity and move into the top echelon of statehood as a First World nation-player.
KELECHI EWUZIE
