From Kenechukwu Obiajuru, Yenagoa
The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, has proposed a university system that prioritises problem-solving and de-emphasises awarding degrees.
Delivering the keynote address at the 2nd Convocation Lecture of the Federal University Otuoke, Bayelsa State, Ogbuku wondered how our universities had become more degree-awarding than problem-solving institutions.
He spoke on the theme: “From Degree-Awarding to Problem-Solving Institutions: Retooling University Education for Nation-Building.”
The NDDC Chief Executive Officer affirmed that “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Ogbuku lamented: “We have built an academic culture where promotion is often tied more to the number of papers published in journals, many of which have minimal bearing on local problems, than to the impact of research on society.”
He expressed worry over the disconnect between universities and the productive sectors of the economy, noting that “employers repeatedly complain that graduates lack critical thinking, creativity, digital skills, and practical experience.”
“We have witnessed a gradual decline in funding and infrastructure in the education sector.
A system that is underfunded struggles to be innovative. When laboratories lack basic equipment, when libraries are outdated, when classrooms are overcrowded, and when staff are poorly motivated, the easiest thing for a university to do is to default to theory-heavy, exam-driven education.”
“We can change this by deliberately inserting “problem-solving contents” into our programmes. For instance, every final-year student, regardless of discipline, could be required to undertake a ‘capstone project’ that addresses a real, identified problem in a community, industry, or government institution.”
The NDDC boss stated that “another strategic step is to build and strengthen innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems within our universities. Many universities, including the Federal University Otuoke (FUO), have started entrepreneurship centres, but some are treated as peripheral units.”
He observed that environmental and climate-related problems in the Niger Delta region were critical issues to resolve. “We need to deal with oil spills, gas flaring, flooding, biodiversity loss, and land and water degradation,” he said.
Ogbuku observed: “In a world driven by technology, Nigeria cannot afford to be a passive consumer of other people’s innovations.
What can we do to develop local manufacturing capabilities to reduce dependence on imported goods? What can we do to leverage digital technologies?
“We need to retool University Education for Sustainable Nation-Building.
This means redefining the university, in our laws and in our practice, as a problem-solving and future-shaping institution. To retool, our universities must focus on research and knowledge production. If we are serious about sustainable nation-building, university research must be more than a personal promotion ladder.”
Ogbuku charged the graduands to leave the university seeing themselves not just as certificate holders, but as problem-solvers.
“The degree in your hand is not a trophy; it’s a tool.”
“You must embrace the charge to learn and adapt continuously. The world you are entering is changing faster than any generation before you. Do not treat your degree as the end of learning.”
Addressing developmental issues, the NDDC boss, remarked that as an intervention agency, the Commission had been repositioned from being transactional to a transformational development commission.
He announced that the NDDC had awarded a contract for the construction of a five-kilometre internal road network inside the university campus. We will also build a modern convocation arena and a five-star Corpers’ Lodge inside the university,” he said.
In his personal capacity, Ogbuku promised to sponsor two professorial chairs in the university, one for my late father and the second for cancer research.
The Vice Chancellor of the Federal University Otuoke, Professor Teddy Charles Adias, thanked President Bola Tinubu for appointing a new Chancellor for one of the country’s youngest Federal Universities.
He charged the graduating students to note that as they leave the university, they must continue to learn, stating: “Learning never ends.”
The convocation lecture witnessed the installation of the Paramount Ruler of Idoma Worldwide, Dr Elaigwu Odogbo Obagaji, as the Chancellor of the Federal University, Otuoke.
