Rector tasks engineering, technology sector on youth unemployment, others
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NIGERIA: RECTOR of The Federal Polytechnic, Offa, Dr. Mufutau Olatinwo, has a task for the major stakeholders in the engineering and technology sector.
The Rector wants them to proffer pragmatic solutions to youth unemployment, insecurity and epileptic power supply using the emerging trends in Engineering and Technology.
Dr. Olatinwo gave this charge at the 4th National Conference of the School of Engineering and Technology of the Polytechnic.
He also tasked tertiary institutions in the country to work very hard in grooming great minds that could make positive changes and advance the nation’s technological capacities, Mr. Ladi Badmus, the Head, Public Relations and Protocol of the polytechnic said in a release made available to GatewayMail.
“I challenge our institutions to rise up to this great task of which this conference is an avenue to fashion out tactics in moving Nigeria from developing country to a technologically advanced nation,” the Rector said.
Dr. Olatinwo, who expressed happiness over the conference coming at a time efforts were needed to incorporate use of engineering and technology into all aspects of our national endeavors, stated that the conference was in accordance with the thinking of all stakeholders in the education sector having realized the need to produce graduates that would function in an ever-increasing globalized technological environment.
“I am particularly happy that this conference with the theme, ‘Application of Emerging Trends in Engineering and Technology to Solving Prevailing National Issues,’ is coming at a time in our country when concerted efforts are actually needed to integrate the use of engineering and technology into the nation’s national lives,” he stressed.
The Rector added: “The main and sub-themes of today’s conference are very much in accordance with the current thinking of all stakeholders in the education sector having realized that Nigeria cannot continue to produce graduates that could not blend and function optimally in an ever-increasing globalized technological environment.”
In his presentation, the Lead Paper presenter, Dr. Jamiu Odusote of Material and Metallurgical Engineering Department, University of Ilorin, attributed causes of major setbacks being witnessed in various sectors to uncoordinated research policies, government’s cold attitude towards research funding and inadequate funding of education researches.
“Nigeria as a nation is still largely dependent on foreign technology and imported products for domestic, industrial and technological needs, even after 50 years of her independence,” Odusote said, adding: “This is as a result of our successive governments’ total negligence for the development of our technology through research and development. Our technology today remains crude despite advancement being recorded in many other nations including some African countries such as South Africa.” “The backwardness in the engineering and technology sector of our nation is a major contributor to our poor economy, unemployment, chronic poverty level, endemic corruption, insecurity, inadequate power generation, low per capital income, low Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and many more,” he emphasised.
He, however, said that Nigeria could maximally explore her potentials if government could sincerely fund researches, especially engineering and technology related ones.
His words: “If the government should sincerely fund engineering and technology related courses in our higher institutions and give clear policy direction to the academia/researchers, we will be able to explore our local natural resources to solve our national problems.
“We can build our own equipment, construct Nigerian-made gadgets and proffer solutions to information and data based problems. Engineers must rise to the task of becoming the major index of change in the present administration.”
Odusote also said: “There should be string interaction between the government policy (which should be based on national targets and problems) and researches to be conducted at the nation’s academic/research institutions. “
“The research findings from these institutions should be implemented by the industries in order to bring about development to the nation and also help to solve the prevailing national problems,” he further submitted.
