The complex challenges facing Nigeria and Africa continent requires ambitious thinking and courageous undertakings from young graduates of higher learning, who are ready to change the narrative of some rigid conventions of the past, that would place Nigeria on a global scale.
Yemi Osinbajo, the Nigeria’s Vice President, stated this Thursday at the 6th combined convocation ceremony of the Nasarawa State University, Keffi, where he was the Special Guest of Honour.
Osinbajo, who identified persistence, ambition, innovation and collaboration as key factors that will serve them well in their life’s journey, urged Nigeria’s youth to promote unity, imbibe the values of integrity, discipline, empathy, hard work, justice and love of country, if they must experience the needed change.
According to the Nigeria’s Vice President, “education gives you a platform from which to make something out of yourself. And this is true today as it was two decades ago when this university was founded. What will set you apart as you journey forward, however, is how far you are willing to dream and how much work you are willing to put in.
The guest speaker who reminded the gathering that, “never forget, character trump’s all else, said ‘nothing you achieve that cannot be sustained without them.
“People have always been the difference between the relative stability of the old and the possibilities of the new, the bridge between the past and the future.
“The innovations that have positively disrupted the world as we know it today have largely been pioneered by the probing minds and boundless courage of young people like you; fresh out of school, eager to apply themselves, to experiment, to try out new things, to make mistakes and to learn from them,” he said.
Osinbajo, who acknowledged the immense potential of young people, described them as ‘digital natives’ belonging to the most advanced generation in human history.
“A generation not bound by some of the rigid conventions of the past. A generation unafraid to ask the hard questions. One that has inherited centuries of human innovation and advancement, and so you know, much more than your predecessors; that there is nothing impossible to accomplish in the face of persistent, innovative, and collaborative effort,” he said.
The Vice President mentioned artificial intelligence, robotics, 3-D printing, nanotechnology and quantum computing as some of the innovations young person need to focus on.
“The wide-ranging opportunities of digital and mobile technology, the disruptions in logistics and global supply chains that have allowed for cheaper and more effective trade, while opening up new markets and spurring economic growth around the world.
“Signs are clear that you are a generation on a path with the heart to fulfill its mission. And we see it in the everyday stories of young people like you out there changing the Nigerian and African narrative one idea, and one bold move at a time,” he explained.
Beyond the technology space, where Nigeria accounted for 35 percent of over $4 billion in funding raised by African tech startups in 2021, Osinbajo stated that in the last 10 years, young Nigerians have also expanded the country’s creative and cultural capital globally, through music, movies, fashion and literature.
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“These creative young people have borrowed from the past and the future to invent a present sound, style and aesthetic that is wholly Nigerian and completely inventive, filling up auditoriums from Lagos to Europe, to the US, and reaping every global award available for the taking. Part of this movement is Chuks D. General, a fast-rising comedian and graduate of Statistics from the Nasarawa State University,” he said.
He then commended the management of the University for its efforts in human capital development, noting that the institution boasts of alumni, who “have excelled in almost every field of endeavour and have continued to do the university proud.
“It is clear that Nasarawa State University has come a long way since it was established over twenty years ago, a result of the bold vision of His Excellency, the former governor of Nasarawa State and now Chairman of our great party, the All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Adamu.”
Osinbajo noted that, “The world has always been pushed forward by people who refused to take no for an answer.
“The complex challenges facing our country, and continent at large, requires ambitious thinking and courageous undertakings. There is no telling how far you can go if you dream large enough and find the courage to go after what you believe in.”
While urging the graduands not to take for granted the investment in them, and to apply same for the good of the society, he said, “collaboration is the key to building the game changing technologies and businesses of this century. It is no longer smart or profitable to go it alone.”
The Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, in his remark, praised the Vice President for the support and commitment he has always shown to every good cause about Nasarawa State.
Governor Sule, however assured the management of the University of improved support to enable it actualise set objectives.
During the 6th combined convocation ceremony, about six eminent Nigerians, who have distinguished themselves in various fields of human endeavours, have been honoured with honorary doctorate degrees.
They included, the former governor of Nasarawa state, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, Abubakar Malami, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Group, Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director NNPC, eminent philanthropist and businessman, Peter Okocha, CEO Okocha Motors, and Aliyu Abdulrazaq Balarabe
Consequently, in order to advance the course of education at the state owned University, the Federal Ministry of Education, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) and the Nigeria Universities Commission, (NUC) have inaugurated projects worth N1.6 billion at the University.
Some of the structures commissioned included; Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Complex, Faculty of Environment Sciences Building, Faculty of Education Building, Laboratory Complex and office accommodation.
Four of the five projects culuminatively worth N1.6 billion and were inaugurated at different locations in the university, while the fifth is a project done under Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement with an entrepreneur.
