NIPEM urges govt to partner developmental, educational institutions on economic development

By Vivian Onyebukwa

President NIPEM Professional Education Management International, Maurice Odiete, has called for collective collaboration between government, developmental and educational institutions to achieve national economic development in the country.

Speaking at the 5th anniversary of NIPEM Professional Management International which held in Lagos, Maurice  urged educational institutions to imbibe academic and entrepreneurial knowledge on students, adding that such effort would help reduce the alarming rate of unemployment in the country.

“We so much believe in education which also enhances employment. In the country today, there are so many universities. In every four or six months we are having graduates, at the end of the period you still see the graduates roaming the streets,” he said.

The event was titled, “Professionalism And Academic Excellence: Antecedence To National Economic Development.” Maurice, a professor, explained that the celebration focuses on national economic development through empowering and re-empowering citizens to harness not only their academic knowledge, but entrepreneurial ingenuity to solving national problems related to employment, economic growth and boosting standard of living while reducing cost of living.

According to him, his institution focuses on imbibing academics and entrepreneurial  knowledge on students so as to enable them create jobs for themselves. “There are no jobs or employment for graduates, what we have succeeded in doing is not just to give access to education, but also be able to inculcate into these students the need for them to believe in themselves, harness and maximise their potentials and utilise it not just getting self-employed, but also to employ other people,” he said.

Guest speaker at the event, Evans Ufeli,  affirmed that peace can only be achieved in any country by investing in the intellectual quotients of the people and the country’s brains. He stated that Nigeria stands to reap from its abundance of intellectual and human resource through increased investment in education of the citizens, adding that conducts are shaped by learning and absence of learning leads to decadence.

Ufeli said: “We do not  have enough investment in education. Today, we have less than three percent of national budget directed to education and this has its impact in national economic development. Aggregate ignorance in a county depletes whatever the country has to do. Today we have over 64 percent of the population as illiterates or semi illiterates. That is why whatever the minority of 36 percent literates does, would be overturned by the majority 64 illiterate population. It is not ideal for our population to be growing in geometric progression while our economy is growing in arithmetic progression.”

Ufeli stressed the need for government to fund education at all levels so that parents that spend colossal amount in funding their children’s education will now deploy their resources to other developmental need of the child to further enhance economic development.

While stating that demography plays vital role on economic development planning as well as education of the people, he observed that harmony around the indices of economic growth would impact positively on the people and the economy.

Highlight of the event was the award ceremony where best deserving staff, students and key stakeholders that have positively impacted the society were recognised.

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