Friday, 29th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search

Disparaging Nigeria will create more problems in future, don warns citizens

By Timothy Agbor, Osogbo
22 December 2022   |   5:03 am
A Lecturer at University of Texas, Austin, Prof. Toyin Falola, has urged Nigerians, especially the youths, to desist from disparaging the country, saying that such act will fetch the nation bigger problems.

Prof Toyin Falola

A Lecturer at University of Texas, Austin, Prof. Toyin Falola, has urged Nigerians, especially the youths, to desist from disparaging the country, saying that such act will fetch the nation bigger problems.

Rather, he asked the citizens to believe in the development of the country and also in its educational system and stop migrating abroad.

He noted that the country would remain under-developed if the mass brain drain is not stopped, adding that youths should not under-rate their ability to develop the country because nobody would develop it should the talented ones keep exiting.

Falola spoke, while delivering a lecture entitled: “Emerging Issues in the Funding of Higher Education: Lessons From Around the World,” at the fourth Tunde Ponle yearly lecture sponsored by Global Affairs And Sustainable Development Institute (GASDID) held at the Olagunsoye Oyinlola Auditorium, Osun State University campus in Osogbo.

He noted that no one would develop the country if the talented ones move abroad, adding that those that have had the opportunity to travel out should give back their skills and knowledge to the nation.

The don, however, warned Nigerians to stop disparaging their country, saying that those countries they promote are not better than Nigeria.

He told the students and other guests that: “Nobody will develop your country for you. If you leave your country, we are leaving the human capacity to develop our own country. So, we have to appeal to people and employers to know that this will create a problem for us if we don’t find something to do.”

Falola noted that there should be resources to revitalise and rehabilitate Nigeria’s education system so that the youths would be committed to the nation, adding that the spirit of leaving the country would dwindle if there were employment opportunities.

The lecturer, who noted that the United Kingdom (UK) employed Nigerians and still complained about incompetency, said: “There’s a contradiction that is ongoing and we must be aware of this. Some complain their education system here is not good, they are the ones who come back here and recruit you. How can you blame people and still employ them? After abusing UCH students, UK alone had recruited 3,000 of them. If your school is not good, why are they recruiting you, that is contradiction.”

In his remarks, Director of Global and Sustainable Development Institute, Prof. John Agbonifo, reiterated that the development of the country is a joint work of everybody, noting that the government should rejig the educational system.

In this article

0 Comments