President Muhammadu Buhari, on Saturday in Ile-Ife, Osun State declared that his administration would ensure the strong enthrenchment of democratic culture and legacies in the country.
He maintained that “we as a nation have once again reiterated our choice of democracy as a system of government by which we hope to imbibe an all-round development.”
Speaking during the 44th convocation ceremony of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Buhari said “our administration is fully committed to ensuring that democratic culture takes firmer roots and legacies further entrenched.”
Represented by the Deputy Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Dr Rahman Suleiman Yussuf, Buhari emphasised that “we will not falter in our commitment to following due process, preserving the sanctity of the rule of law, battling deep-rooted corruption which has become a monster, securing lives and property of our people and revamping our critical infrastructure.”
Describing universities as establishments for teaching, research and community service, he averred that “we recognise the place of our intellectuals to undertake cutting edge research that will address the challenges of development and contribute to making lives better.”
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According to Buhari, “it is condemnable that most of the outcome of numerous researches and papers presented by scholars at national and international conferences usually end up on the shelves of their respective authors, supervisors, departmental or faculty libraries and other university archives. I, therefore, charge all our universities to come up with groundbreaking inventions that could engender growth and development.
“Our new graduands should become honed in entrepreneurial skills. They should be trained to be providers of economic solutions rather than becoming its problems. As educated entrepreneurs, they would be naturally equipped to provide service with finesse,” Buhari remarked.
Earlier in his address, the Vice-Chancellor of OAU, Professor Eyitope Ogunbodede identified an increase in the rate of attempted suicide and substance abuse as some of the rising challenges bedevilling Nigerian society and tertiary institutions.
He stated “attempted suicide is the current evil pervading the Nigerian society and university campuses are not immune to this menace. As part of the university’s commitment to the regional initiative to combat rising incidences of suicide among the generality of people on the continent, it hosted a conference for African Project Against Suicide (APAS) during the year.”
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