The federal government has directed the Ministry of Education to organise a national summit on research and development within the second quarter of 2020 in order to strengthen education and make it relevant to societal needs.
President Muhammadu Buhari gave the directive during the convocation ceremony of Alex-Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu Alike Ikwo (AE-FUNAI).
Buhari, represented by the Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Abubakar Rasheed, said that the summit would enhance research and development in the country.
He said the summit should draw participants from the academia, industrial sector and civil top service.
“The summit will help in drawing up a draft agenda for the country’s research priorities as our development as a nation can only be concretised if we succeed in getting our research and development priorities right.
“Development brings about peace and harmony and I call on all universities in the country to support, through curriculum re-engineering and academic discourse, government efforts of creating a more peaceful, united and cohesive nation.
“Our diverse nation is confronted with the challenges of a high population growth rate and the academia must guide the thinking and actions that convert these challenges to opportunities.
“Let us through our thinking, teaching and actions, turn our large, diverse population into a reservoir of human resource capital that will leverage this government’s economic recovery and growth plan,” Buhari said.
