Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, and Chief Executive Officer of United Nigeria Airlines, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, have urged Nigeria’s political leaders to leverage the nation’s academic institutions in addressing the country’s socio-economic and developmental challenges.
They lamented what they described as a persistent disconnect between political leadership and institutions of higher learning, noting that global powers such as China, Russia and the United States have advanced largely because of deliberate investment in, and reliance on, academic research and intellectual capital.
The duo spoke at the weekend in Ado-Ekiti during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between ABUAD and United Nigeria Airlines Company Limited, aimed at providing students of the university with hands-on training in Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering.
Speaking before the signing of the MoU, Prof. Okonkwo called on government officials to actively engage universities in solving national problems, stressing that expertise already exists within Nigeria’s academic system.
“In one of our retreat lectures yesterday, someone reminded us that once upon a time, President John F. Kennedy said America would send a man to the moon,” Okonkwo said.
“He did not say so because he was an engineer or an astronaut. He said it because he knew America had great intellectuals in their institutions who could transform that dream into reality. At that time, those intellectuals did not even know how to do it, but eventually they made it happen.”
He urged government leaders to present national challenges—whether legislative, legal, economic or technological—to relevant university departments for research-driven solutions.
“Pick any national issue. If it is legislative or legal, take it to the law faculty. Let intellectuals crack it and give recommendations. If it is economic, bring it to the economics department. These professionals are there to provide answers,” he said.
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