Chancellor of Southwestern University (SWU), Okun-Owa, Ogun State, Babatunde Odufuwa, has said education remains a key driver of development and growth in the country.
He described sound human capital as key to the future development of Nigeria.
Odufuwa spoke during the second convocation of the university held at the main campus of the institution, Okun-Owa, Odogbolu Council.
He said: “In many countries, education is viewed as a good investment in human capital development, as it produces the quality and quantity of human resources required for economic growth.
“Education remains the most important element in the process of human progress, whereby ignorance is eliminated and the development of knowledge, skills, talents and capacities of human beings are attained.”
Odufuwa stressed that to develop the human capacity of the country, its people must be properly impacted with knowledge, skills and experience.
“Education is a right and not an obligation and a crucial vehicle for shaping human potentials for productive ends. It is a major prime mover of any modernising society desirous of development and growth,” he added.
He said Nigeria would remain dormant unless her human resources were adequately developed and utilised to exploit and fabricate the non-human resources into consumable articles.
The chancellor, who congratulated the graduating students for their academic feats, urged them to uphold ethical conduct in their business dealings in the labour market.
He said: “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.”
He expressed the institution’s commitment to excellence in teaching, learning and research as well as developing leaders in many disciplines to stand out globally.
The Acting Vice Chancellor, Prof. Babatunde Odesanya, charged graduating students to be agents of impact in the society.
He noted that all academic programmes of the institution were fully accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC), adding: “Plans are underway to establish new faculty and programmes in the school to promote learning.”
In his convocation lecture, the Head, Department of Accounting, University of Benin and Chairman, Governing Council of SWU, 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.”
He, however, urged the students and graduands to do their best to achieve excellence in all their endeavours and invest in knowledge to have an edge.
