…Says children left behind won’t let others rest

By Adesina Wahab

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, has said for the country to have a future that is going to be sustainable, priority must be given to an inclusive and quality education that will not leave any child behind.

She stated this on Tuesday at the Lagos State University, LASU, Fourth Research and Innovation Fair where she delivered a keynote address.

According to her, an education system that leaves some children behind would not augur well for the society in the long run.

“This is not where we should be by now, but it is not too late for us to start. The children we left behind some years ago are now the Boko Haram and the bandits tormenting us now. If we don’t carry our youths along and get them engaged productively, when we grow old, they won’t let us rest and will give us some job to do, ” she said.

She charged university dons to rise up to the expectation of making the ivory towers real centres of research and innovation like their foreign counterparts.

The former Lagos State Deputy Governor listed Harvard University and Cambridge University as universities that earn huge sums of money from research and innovation.

The Vice Chancellor of LASU, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, said the dearth of funds and other factors had relegated Nigerian universities to the background.

She added that the challenges facing universities were not different from those confronting the society.

She added that LASU would soon inaugurate a research grant that would be competed for by various disciplines.

“In order to take ownership of our research outcomes, which has been a problem in this part of the world, we are also instituting an Intellectual Property Policy. We want to be the hub of research and innovation as part of our vision to make LASU greater and the best in the sub-region, ” she said.

One of the guest speakers, Emeritus Professor Olufemi Bamiro, called for the setting up of Innovation Fund for the country to be able to compete with other nations.

He also charged Nigerian universities to embark on technology diffusion to be able to bring technology down to the level of ordinary artisans.

The theme of the fair is “Repositioning the Nigerian university system for global relevance and competitiveness in learning, research, innovation and technological transfer. “