Country Representative of Policy House International, Taiwo Akerele, and other Scholars have insisted On Economic Diversification.
Gatekeepers News reports that this was said at a Nigerian at 61 lecture program held at the University of Ibadan on the 1st of October 2021.
The programme had scholars and policymakers discussing how to move Nigeria to the next level of productivity and citizens engagement.
The scholars and panellists agreed that there is so much to do in Nigeria by young persons. Therefore, they must be accessible as citizens to take advantage of government initiatives to develop their capacities across the board.
Starting with Prof Remi Aiyede, the HOD political Science, who identified weak political participation by young people and a faulty electoral system, insisted that Africa must continue to be the centrepiece of Nigerian foreign policy.
Meanwhile, Akerele said the only way poverty and brain drain can be curbed in Nigeria is for the government to invest more in technical education, SME, and private sector involvement in infrastructure financing.
Akerele, in his speech, reflected on governance, economy and the challenges before the next generation.
He, therefore, called on Nigerian youths to be more engaging in their quest to be part of the development of the country, especially as the “not too young to run bill” has been passed by the national assembly.
Akerele, who is also the Abuja chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), insisted that government must revive reading culture, increase its investment in primary education and agriculture for a better society.
He called for a change in spending to investment in human capital, especially in the technical education sector of the economy.
The University of Ibadan social science annual independence lecture was well attended by students, civil society organisations, members of the diplomatic community and the media.
Awards were later given to the winners of the HOD cup by the HoD Prof Remi Aiyede and assisted by Comrade Habeeb Habeeb, the president of the students union of the Association of political science students of the university.
