Minister: Certificates Alone Cannot Help Nigeria Realise Dream of Economic Prosperity

James Sowole in Abeokuta

The Minister of Communication, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, said yesterday that certificates alone cannot achieve the nation’s dream of a prosperous economy as envisioned under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Tijani said Nigerian graduates must therefore prioritise applying the skills and knowledge they acquired in school to be problem solvers and contribute to the country’s economic growth and prosperity.

The minister made the call in his keynote address at the 35th convocation of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State.

Addressing the graduands, Tijani said, “While the certificates you’re taking home are important, it should not be the end of it all because as a nation, we do not just grow by certificates; we grow on applied knowledge and productive skills that come from relevant institutions such as Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye.”

The minister urged the graduates to consider their degrees from the university as tools to make an impact that would benefit and uplift humanity.

He explained, “What you are leaving with is an instrument; the instrument that must make you take impact as an assignment. You must not believe that, as you are graduating, you have arrived; you must rather see it as being deployed to make an impact in society.

“You should go out there, find a problem in your environment, and use the skills you have acquired to solve the problem that will benefit the world.

“Go and make an impact; make the world a lot better with your educational training and skills received at the university”.

Tijani said Nigeria’s challenge was not ambition but productivity, adding that a prosperous economy is built when skills are applied with purpose.

He disclosed, “When farmers, teachers, engineers, and public servants all raise the standard of what they do, the society gets better. Nigeria’s prosperity will not come alone from policies but from millions of Nigerians applying their skills with intent and purpose.

The minister charged the country’s universities to continue providing high-quality education that addresses real societal challenges and supports the $ 1 trillion prosperous economic drive under President Tinubu.

Tijani said that no economy in the world has grown faster than the relevance of its universities and the quality of their graduates.

“When a university aligns its learning and teaching with the real society’s needs, prosperity becomes an outcome, not just an aspiration,” he said.

The minister announced a donation of a digital laboratory to the university to further strengthen excellence in tech education.

Also speaking at the convocation, Governor Dapo Abiodun reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to investing in making quality education accessible to residents of the state.

Abiodun emphasised that continued investment in the education sector is pivotal and essential to securing the state’s future.

Speaking earlier, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Ayodeji Agboola, said that a total of 5,808 undergraduates were graduating, with 147 earning First Class; 2,051 were in the Second Class Upper Division; 2,927 in the Second Class Lower Division; 571 had Third Class Degree, 26 had a Pass Grade, while 86  were unclassified being graduates from the medical programme.

Agboola said the university, ranked 16th among 321 universities in the country, has maintained 100 per cent course accreditation and has added nine new programmes, comprising seven undergraduate and two postgraduate.

The vice chancellor also announced the appointment of three Professors Emeritus for the university.

They include: Prof. Adewale Sule-Odu, a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology; Prof. Adetola Olatunji, former Provost,  Obafemi Awolowo College of Health Sciences; and a notable columnist with The Punch newspapers and a Professor of Economics, Sheriffdeen Tella.