President Muhammadu Buhari has called on Universities to take advantage of the Federal Government’s interventions to boost research activities.
Buhari made the call on Saturday during the 5th and 6th combined convocation of the Federal University Dutsin-Ma (FUDMA).
Buhari, represented by Mr Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, the Minister of State for Education, said such research activities are aimed to produce the manpower required to bring about the development of the country’s economy.
He also urged them to explore the opportunities provided by the Federal Government in the area of economic diversification agenda.
Buhari said that the opportunities are designed to wean the country from over dependence on oil in order to achieve sustainable economic development.
He restated government’s commitment to tackle the challenges of sustainable living, funding for research and capacity building as well as job creation.
“There is need for FUDMA to take advantage of the agrarian environment of Katsina State by liaising with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Water Resources to promote dry-season farming.
”This will provide employment opportunities and other economic benefits,” he said.
Buhari also restated the commitment of the Federal Government to sustain funding of university education in the country.
He also expressed the belief that the graduates are adequately prepared to contribute their quota to national development in their various areas of endeavors.
Buhari, therefore, charged the graduates to apply their knowledge and skills to create jobs and undertake activities that would add value to Nigeria’s Economy and promote national development.
Earlier in his address, the Chancellor of the University, King Jaja of Opobo, Mr. Dandeson Douglas-Jaja, urged the graduates to be good ambassadors of the country wherever they found themselves.
He advised them to take advantage of the Federal Government’s huge opportunities to become self-employed and employers of labour, rather than chasing white collar jobs which are not available.
In his speech, FUDMA’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Armaya’u Hamisu-Bichi, said the graduates are 90 for Masters/Post Graduates degrees and 1,201 for Bachelor’s degrees.
He said that the university had offered automatic employment to the the only PHD graduate among them.
During the convocation ceremony, the Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmuminu Kabir-Usman, and the King Jaja of Opobo were conferred with the honorary Doctorate degrees.
DEVELOP COVID-19 VACCINE
President Muhammadu Buhari at the 5th and 6th combined convocation also challenged Nigerian universities to intensify their research in order to develop COVID-19 vaccine to tackle the dreaded virus afflicting the country.
He explained that Nigerian Universities were supposed to be centres for scientific and technological discoveries, inventions, values and character formation as well as drivers of societal development.
The president added that the development of the vaccine would fortify Nigerians’ immune system against the virus.
He further noted that his administration remained committed to tackling the challenges of sustainable funding for research, capacity building and employment creation.
According to him, “You all know that in the year 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic began its devastating effect on the education sub-sectors, leading to the destruction of universities’ academic activities.
“I therefore urge and encourage the universities to intensify their research to come up with a more potent vaccine to fortify our immune system against this dreaded virus”.
He also tasked the universities to explore available opportunities, including research collaboration with allied industries and development partners to create other sources of revenue generation.
According to the President, such will support his economic diversification drive.
He, however, said the federal government is committed and determined to combat and defeat all acts of criminality across the country for meaningful development to thrive.
“Our security is a collective responsibility, we must join hands with the government by providing security agents with useful information to enable proactive mitigation of any of these occurrences,” he added.
The Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Armaya’u Hamisu-Bichi, urged the federal government to dig trenches around the main campus of the institution because of the current security challenges in the country.
