Knowledge-based Skills Critical for Economic Growth, Says VC

The Chancellor, Southwestern University, Okun Owa, Ogun State, Babatunde Odufuwa, has stated that knowledge-based skills are important to the development of the nation and education growth.

Speaking during the recent second convocation ceremony of the university, he said knowledge and advanced skills were critical determinants of a country’s economic growth and sustainability.

According to him, the capacity for countries to adopt, disseminate, and maximise rapid technological advances depends on adequate tertiary education systems.

Odufuwa called for more focused investment in education, pointing out that Nigeria will remain dormant unless its human resources are adequately developed and utilised to exploit and fabricate the non-human resources into consumable articles.

While congratulating the graduands, the chancellor urged them to uphold ethical conduct in their business dealings in the labour market.

“Business ethics is a big issue in Nigeria’s environment. There is currently a deficit of ethics and integrity at several leadership levels in the country today. Graduands must maintain a high sense of discipline and embrace qualitative education,” stressed Odufuwa.

He expressed the institution’s commitment to excellence in teaching, learning, research and developing leaders in many disciplines to stand out globally.

The acting Vice-Chancellor Prof. Babatunde Odesanya, charged the graduands to be agents of impact to the society.
In his convocation lecture, the Head of Department of Accounting, University of Benin and Chairman, Governing Council of the institution, Prof. Famous Izedonmi, said there was nothing a nation could do to spur growth and development without education.

Izedonmi said, “education is a weapon for meaningful change, revolution and orientation. The level of development in most developing nations and countries of the world is largely attributed to education; hence, educating the masses should be the paramount concern of those in leadership.”

At the convocation ceremony, 250 students were conferred with bachelor’s degrees from the Faculty of Social and Management Science and Faculty of Pure and Applied Science for the 2020/2021 academic session.

An eminent personality, Alhaji Balogun Idowu was conferred with an honorary Doctorate of Science degree in Business Administration for his contributions to higher education in Nigeria.