Osinbajo Urges Young Nigerians To Add Value Through Creativity, Innovation & Use Of Technology

CONVOCATION LECTURE DELIVERED BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, AT THE 5TH CONVOCATION OF THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF DUTSE IN JIGAWA STATE, ON THE 21ST OF FEBRUARY, 2020
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I am greatly indebted to the council and management of this great centre of learning and research for the opportunity to give this lecture as part of the fifth convocation ceremony of the University.
My special gratitude to Professor Fatima Batul Mukhtar, the dynamic Vice-Chancellor of this University, not only for the invitation but also for the warm hospitality accorded to me and my entourage since our arrival here today.
Every citadel of learning derives its claim to greatness from the reputation and accomplishments of its students and staff: the great academics and scholars to whom has been given the enormous task of instructing, guiding and inspiring the minds and talents that are destined to define the future. Your task is possibly the noblest anyone could ask for, yet often without great reward or even gratitude. But we thank you today for your great and priceless service to this and coming generations.
It is most pleasing to learn that the proverbial seed planted less than a decade ago, the Federal University, Dutse, has not only produced four sets of graduates already and tomorrow by the grace of God, a fifth set, but has also grown so bounteously to now have over 7,000 students spread across 6 faculties, including a College of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Yours is the first among the set of Universities set up by the Federal Government in 2011 to establish a College of Medicine and Health Sciences. Congratulations! Equally remarkable are reports of the great exploits being recorded by the University in many fields that amply validate the promise of the fruitful synergy between town and gown.
Let me cite just two such examples, in recognition of your relevant and innovative research efforts. First is the Federal Ministry of Agriculture selected your University to host the Agribusiness Incubation Centres.
The second has been your response to the security challenges besetting our nation today, you elected to express a shared commitment to the national search for solution by being the first among your peers to mount a programme on Criminology and Security Studies, thereby demonstrating your relevance and proving that the university should not just be an incubator of ideas, but also a solution provider.
Congratulations on these sterling achievements. And to the students of this university, and especially the graduating class of 2019, let me just say congratulations and well done! The future is certainly very bright indeed.
Madam Vice Chancellor, my lecture titled “Facing the New Decade”, a topic you graciously allowed me to choose, is really directed at the young men and women here in this arena today. I count myself among those young men and women and I hope that those of us who are here also see ourselves as young men and women.
The reason why this is addressed to the young people here is first, the young men and women, students of this University, are the future of our country. Secondly, that future has already arrived at our doorsteps, perhaps much faster than we expected. For the next few minutes permit me to take you on a brief journey into this imminent future, how it will affect us all and my humble suggestions about what you may need to do to make the best of it.
Let me begin by making a few general statements and perhaps some predictions. First is that the next few decades will present tremendous opportunities for getting well-paying jobs and lucrative entrepreneurship opportunities all over the world. Anyone will be able to access many of those jobs without even having to move from their own country, in some cases even without leaving their home.
There will be a truly international marketplace of ideas, talents and opportunities, but to access that marketplace, you need to become, in many senses, a global citizen by your own effort. Self-education and self-development will be important.
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Oluyemi Oluleke “Yemi” Osinbajo is a Nigerian Lawyer and politician who is the current Vice President of Nigeria, in office since 29 May 2015.
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[@Amazing_Buddy]

Education today must be education for employability, not just for its own sake. So, our curricula must be versatile and dynamic

[@therealist2866]

Amazing Clip it can be both. Employability (aka training) is great, but nothing beats an educated mind (and here we have to distinguish between real education and just acquiring degrees). A truly educated mind has virtually no limits.