The Nigerian at 61 lecture program held at the University of Ibadan on the 1st of October 2021 saw intellectual fire works between scholars and policy makers on how to move Nigeria to the next level of productivity and citizens engagement.
Starting with Prof Remi Aiyede, the HOD political Science, who identified weak political participation by young people and a faulty electoral system as the bane of Nigerian politics to Ambassador Adedotun Adepoju who reminisced Nigeria diplomatic relations and insisted that Africa must continue to be the center piece of Nigerian foreign policy. The scholars and panelist agreed that there is so much to do in Nigeria by young persons and therefore they must be free as citizens to take advantage of government initiatives to develop their capacities across board.
However, for Taiwo Akerele, country Representative of Policy House International, the only way poverty and brain drain can be curbed in Nigeria is for the government to invest more technical in education, SME and private sector involvement in infrastructure financing.
Akerele in his paper, Nigeria at 61, reflections on governance, economy and the challenges before the next generation called on Nigerian youths to be more engaging in their quest to be part of the development of the country especially as the not too young to run bill as been passed by the national assembly.
Akerele who is also the Abuja chapter of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Abuja insisted that government must revive reading culture, increase its investment in basic education and agriculture for a better society. He called for a change in spending to investment in human capital especially in the technical education sector of the economy.
The University of Ibadan social science annual independence lecture was well attended by students, civil society organizations, members of the diplomatic community and the media.
Awards were later given to the winners of the HOD cup by the HoD Prof Remi Aiyede and assisted by Comrade Habeeb Habeeb the president of the students union of Association of political science students of the university.
