FG Vows to Sustain Investments in Youth Development, Expansion of Economic Opportunities
Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Enugu
The Federal Government has expressed strong commitment to sustain the current momentum in its investment drive and initiatives towards capacity building for Nigerian youths, expansion of economic opportunities and their overall development.
President Bola Tinubu gave the assurance weekend at the 55th convocation ceremony of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, saying that there was need to adequately prepare the nation’s youths for “the responsibility of building a better society”.
He said that his administration placed high premium on the youth population because Nigeria needs their knowledge, creative courage, and integrity to achieve its national development goals.
“The future of our country will be shaped not only by government but also who are prepared to solve problems, create jobs, build industries, and strengthen our democracy,” Tinubu.
The president, whose address was read by his representative at the event, Prof. Edoba Omoregie, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Benin, acknowledged the anxiety among Nigerian youths about what the future holds for them.
But Tinubu assured the youth that: “My administration is doing everything possible to ensure that our youth are productively engaged” hence they should “embrace the future with optimism”.
“We are promoting digital economy by expanding tech hubs, digital skills training, and providing funding for young tech entrepreneurs. We have equally laid out plans to repackaging the NYSC to be skill and entrepreneurship-oriented and technology-driven,” he said.
The president acknowledged the central role that the nation’s universities play in youth development given that the ivory towers “do not merely graduate students: they shape ideas, destinies and preserve tne moral and intellectual foundations upon which nations rise”.
He, therefore, lauded the present administration of UNN headed by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Simon Uchenna Ortuanya, for aligning the university’s development trajectory with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Federal Government.
Tinubu, who is the Visitor to UNN, noted that the RHA-tailored development drive at Nigeria’s first indigenous university was evident in the “improvements in infrastructure, research output, global visibility, digital transformation and institutional governance”.
“Federal Government will continue to support initiatives that strengthen teaching, research, innovation and infrastructure development across our universities.
“We shall continue to create an enabling environment that allows our institutions to flourish and contribute meaningfully to national growth and global competitiveness,” he said.
As a measure of UNN’s alignment with the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda, Prof Ortuanya said in his address that within its first year, his administration has initiated over 100 strategic projects across the three campuses of UNN – Nsukka, Enugu and Ituku-Ozalla.
According to him, the projects underscored his administration’s “unwavering commitment to institutional renewal”, adding that the university has also recorded remarkable progress in strengthening the quality, relevance and competitiveness of (its) academic programmes.
“Our commitment to rebuilding has equally found expression in the deliberate strengthening of the university’s innovation ecosystem. We recognise that the universities which will shape the future are those that transform ideas into solutions, research into enterprise and knowledge into measurable social impact,” he said.
Ortuanya, who has clocked 11 months in office, stated that the rebuilding of UNN was intertwined with the rebuilding of the Nigerian nation to meet the expectations of its citizens.
“We believe that Nigeria’s aspirations for sustainable development, technological advancement and global competitiveness cannot be realised without universities that are intellectually vibrant, internationally connected and socially relevant,” he stated.
The UNN honoured six distinguished personalities whose lives become compelling testimonies that leadership, enterprise, faith and creative vision are themselves profound expressions of scholarship in action.
The beneficiaries include Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, who was conferred with the honorary degree of Doctor of Public Administration (Honoris Causa).
She was honoured “in recognition of her distinguished contributions to public service, women empowerment, social development, and her unwavering commitment to advancing the welfare and dignity of vulnerable Nigerians”.
Other notable personalities honoured alongside the First Lady were an accomplished industrialist, Chief Williams Agbo and an accomplished architect, Mr. Kaycee-Kelechi, who were both conferred with Doctor of Business Administration (Honoris Causa).
An American faith leader, global Christian statesman, education advocate and humanitarian, Dr W. Franklyn Richardson, was honoured with Doctor of Social Work (Honoris Causa).
The UNN honoured the cleric in recognition of his “visionary leadership, unwavering commitment to Christian ministry, educational advancement and humanitarian services (that) have impacted countless lives across nations and generations”.
