The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council, University of Lagos, Dr Wale Babalakin (SAN), has called for the harnessing of Nigeria’s collective intellect. This, he said, would speed up the nation’s growth.
Babalakin spoke yesterday in Lagos at the maiden edition of the UNILAG Pro-Chancellor’s Distinguished Annual Lecture Series. The lecture, titled “Responding To Nigeria’s Disease Outbreaks and Epidemics: Ebola, Zika and HIV”, was delivered by Prof. Phyllis Kanki, a professor of Immunology and Infectious Disease from the Harvard School of Public Health. The event was chaired by Justice Olayinka Ayoola, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court.
Babalakin, who initiated the lecture series, which is the first of its kind in Nigeria, said the objective was to accelerate Nigeria’s educational exposure, harness talents and bring to Nigeria gifted people from all areas of human endeavor who have contributed to advancing knowledge.
He said: “It is because of this premise that we have sought out Prof. Phyllis Kanki, who is an outstanding professor of medicine at Harvard University and whose research in HIV/AIDS has been very beneficial to limiting the scourge of this deadly disease. Our lecture is designed to continue to find those who fit into this category.”
Emphasising the importance of education in problem solving, Babalakin said: “It is our view that education is going to liberate Nigeria. Until we get our education sector right, we will continue to dwell in underdevelopment and be unable to attend to the needs of our people. In 2001, I delivered a lecture at the Government College, Ibadan, titled: “The Nigerian Intelligentsia, an Endangered Species”.
He said: “In 2001, it sounded like a false alarm. But 17 years after, the Nigerian education system is still in the Intensive Care Unit. We don’t even know when we’re going to get out of this comatose state. “We’re using this platform to call on all of you who qualify as the intelligentsia, which is defined by the Longman Dictionary as those people in the society who work together with fresh ideas to develop the society. Do we actually today have a group of people who qualify for this?”
The lawyer said it was sad that the intelligentsia in Nigeria had been pushed to the background and they seemed to have accepted their lot without any serious resistance, adding that Nigeria would grow when we realise that it is in our interest to “extract and distill our collective intellect” and ensure that those ideas help in the governance of the nation.
Babalakin said: “The worst thing that can happen to any nation is to be subjected to mediocrity. We must accept that there is no Nigerian education, education is universal. Same goes for quality. Unless we reposition our universities to compete favourably with the best universities in the world, we would not have done our duties as councils of universities. This can only be achieved if we all come together to search, promote and celebrate knowledge. The concept of accepting whatever is thrown at us as faith accompli, rather than providing alternative solutions as the intelligentsia must come to an end. If the state of the educational system does not trouble you, does not make you sad, does not urge you to find a solution, then you have not contributed to the evolution of Nigeria.”
The Health Minister, Prof. Isaac Adewole, who was the special guest of honour, hailed UNILAG and Babalakin for initiating the lecture series, which he said was the first in Nigeria.
Adewole said: “Our universities, besides providing degrees and conducting researches, must deliver public good and to us in the health sector, this is the real public good. Nigeria has had to contend with a number of outbreaks in the last few years. We have invited the World Health Organisation to conduct a joint external evaluation to assess our level of preparedness for disease outbreaks. That would help us to do an internal reassessment and reposition ourselves to handle both current and future outbreaks.”
Adewole said a vaccine had been developed for the prevention of Ebola but it had to be stored at -8 degrees. He added that UNILAG’s laboratory was supportive in the efforts to diagnose Lassa Fever and his ministry was working on collaborating with the university to improve the health sector.
Prof. Kanki explained the different strains of the Ebola, HIV/AIDS and Zika viruses and said it was important to continue to research these diseases in order to prevent treat and eradicate them. Kanki, who discovered HIV 2, was presented with an award in honour of her contributions to the health sector.
At the event were pro-chancellors and vice-chancellors from other universities, Jamb Registrar Prof. Ishaq Oloyede; Prof. Bayo Williams of the Nation newspaper; Chief Kola Akinbami; Olawale Akoni (SAN); former UNILAG Vice-Chancellor Prof. Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe; and Tola Oshobi (SAN), among others.
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