.Tasks tertiary institutions to groom innovators
The Federal Government has presented a $20,000 prize money to Veritas University Abuja, even as it tasked tertiary institutions in the country to see their roles beyond churning out graduates but grooming innovators that will help boost the nation’s economy and tackle societal challenges.
Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani stated at the weekend at an award-giving ceremony to Veritas University Abuja.
Recall that the Catholic-owned university had recently emerged winner of the third edition of the African Telecommunication Union Africa Innovation Challenge in Nairobi, Kenya, with a reward of $20,000 grant to the institution.
The Guardian reports that the Nigerian High Commissioner in the country had accepted the award on behalf of Veritas University.
Speaking while presenting the prize to the university, Dr Tijani noted that meaningful research and innovation endeavour will add value and boost the contribution of SMEs to the nation’s GDP.
The event was graced by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Engr. Faruk Yabo who led other Directors in the ministry while the Vice Chancellor of Veritas University, Rev. Fr Prof. Hyacinth Ichoku led the school’s delegation.
The Minister pointed out that there was room for more result-oriented and sector -focused collaborative research dealing with specific aspects of Nigeria’s socio-economic and technological challenges and programmes.
While applauding the institution for making the country proud at the global event, he dispelled the notion that academic institutions are only there to teach and train.
His words: “For many people, we may not understand the role that you play in the society. You can almost see the direct implication of the quality academic institutions to the quality of the economy of any nation. Because nations rely on research and development to be able to progress. Humanity will constantly be looking for better ways to do things. And these better ways can come through research and development. And the custodian of research and development is our academic institutions.
“We live in a world that is now constantly evolving and we can all see. Modern day technologies are disrupting our world in tremendous, unprecedented manner, which means the shape of work and the future of work is also changing. The way we look at our education, our curriculum and how we train the workforce of the future is also changing. So not only do we need to help raise and groom these young people to become part of the workforce that will lift our nation and help with economic prosperity, we also need to understand that the world today demands that we have innovators as well. It is also the responsibility of academic institutions to also groom these young people to become innovators, creators with critical thinking capability to be able to solve problems”.
Responding, the Vice Chancellor of Veritas University, Rev. Fr Prof. Hyacinth Ichoku described the event as heartwarming.
The academic attributed the success to the relentlessness, apt and high intelligence of the young, dogged students of Department of Software Engineering as well as their lecturers and instructors who helped in nurturing them.
