The Vice-Chancellor, Kwara State University, Prof. Abdulrasheed Na’Allah, has blamed Africa’s underdevelopment on African universities.
Na’Allah stated this on Monday in Malete, while declaring open the 5th edition of the U6 International Conference hosted by KWASU.
The U6 is a consortium of high flying universities in Africa that have forged a partnership to reverse underdevelopment in the continent through formulation of policies for sustainable growth.
The universities are: Kwara State University; University of Calabar; University of Ilorin; University of the Gambia; Bondo University College, Kenya; Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa; and University of Cape Coast, Ghana.
The conference, which holds from October 29 to November 2, has as its theme: “Resolving Developmental Challenges of Africa using Multi-Disciplinary Research.”
The Vice-Chancellor said African universities were just regularly irregular and could not stand up to solve developmental challenges through research.
Na’Allah said: “Our universities should stand, to live up to expectations because the developed countries cannot boast of the industrial revolution they went through without their universities.
“It is a shame that nations like Brazil, Malaysia, Singapore, who were at par with us are now competing with the industrial world, all thanks to their universities.
“Africa is now labeled as a forgotten entity, so we need to wake up to carry out research that will proffer the solutions we need.”
He, however, expressed optimism that the conference would afford the participants from different universities the opportunity to collaborate and bring about change.
He said: “If we can go join forces with both local and foreign universities here present and others to reinforce our universities, it will go a long way to help us.”
The Chairperson of the occasion, Dr. Nimota Akanbi, a former Nigerian envoy to the Netherlands, said universities were not living up to expectations.
Akanbi said that presently education in the country was nothing to write home about, stressing that the foundation was to be blamed.
She said all stakeholders were at fault and needed to retrace their steps to bring education back to the golden old days.
Also, Prof. Saka Nuru of the Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ilorin, said if half of the research work on agriculture in Africa had been implemented, the continent would by now be food sufficient.
According to him, Africa could produce three times what it requires for local consumption and export the surplus.
Nuru said: “So, U6 is the right way to go because we need to right our wrongs.”
Speaking in the same vein, Prof. Temidayo Oladiji, Director, Centre for Research Development and Training, University of Ilorin, said: “If Africa could solve its developmental challenges, we would achieve the Africa we want”.|
Oladiji added: “The developmental challenges we have is not peculiar to Africa alone it’s just the rate at which we have ours.
“So, this conference is an opportunity to help bring about the changes we want.”
Prof. Ismaila Cisse of the University of the Gambia said the conference came at a time that it was important for Africans to reflect on the roles to play in the 21st century on helping the continent overcome its developmental challenges.
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