Education, human development, means to achieving SDGs in Africa – Trinity Varsity VC

Vice Chancellor of Trinity University (TU), Yaba, Lagos, Professor Clement Kolawole, says without adequate investment in human capital development and leveraging on education, sustainable development is not achievable in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.

He observed that the inability of most African countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 is traceable to non-development of education as a driving force, adding that education for sustainable development is the response to the need to address the gap in 2015.

Professor Kolawole noted this while addressing participants from universities across the geopolitical zones of the country at the maiden edition of a joint conference between the Industrial Training Fund and Trinity University (ITF/TU), held at Drapers Hall of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan on Tuesday last week.

He said the conference which had as its  theme ‘Exploring the Prospect of Attaining the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa: Imperatives for Human Capital Development,’ was an attempt to address the need to prepare human beings for the challenges of promoting sustainable development  to galvanise scholars  toward factors that need to be addressed.

He stressed that “central to education is human beings, who must acquire knowledge, skills, competencies, values and attitudes that will drive development on a sustainable basis through the instrumentality of education.

“It is clear that without these attributes being imbibed by human beings through education, the desire of the world to achieve the 17 goals of the sustainable development dream will be a mirage.”

According to him, UNESCO realises the role of education in human capacity development and sees education as an answer to all the problems of development.

Delivering the keynote speech on the theme of the conference, Professor Saka Jimoh of the Center for Sustainable Development, UI, stated that environmental education plays a vital role in creating a sustainable and resilient future and it is also a powerful tool for climate change mitigation.

He posited that “there is a need to integrate environmental education into school curricula and public awareness campaigns, in order to build a more informed and proactive society ready to tackle the challenges of climate change.

Presenting the lead paper at the conference was the Vice Chancellor of Dominion University, Professor Abel Olorunnisola on the topic: ‘The Centrality of Sustainable Energy Provision in the Realisation of the SDGs: Lessons from Selected African Countries,’ said “energy is a prerequisite of human development as it central to the realisation of 13 out of the 17 SDGs.”

“Energy is central to human activity for preparing food, warming homes, powering travel, and producing goods, among many other purposes as well asdirectly and indirectly used in production agriculture for various purposes, namely the conversion of solar energy through photosynthesis to food energy for humans and feed for animals,” Olorunnisola said.

Director- General/ Chief Executive of ITF, Dr Afiz Oluwatoyin Ogun, while speaking on the topic, ‘Up-skilling Artisans for Sustainable Development: A Pathway to Achieving the SDGs,’ noted that upskilling artisans and the potential of this sector in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) cannot be overemphasised.

He, therefore, restated the need for continuous investment in artisanal skills development and best practices through training and capacity-building programmes that can create sustainable livelihoods, foster inclusive economic growth, promote social equity and advance progress towards achieving the SDGs.