In pursuit of quality education for Nigeria’s teeming students, Baze University whose motto is ‘Learn, to Live’ yesterday in a well-attended ceremony matriculated its second batch of students. The occasion was graced by former head of Interim Government, Chief Ernest Shonekan and Speaker of the House of Representatives Hon. Aminu Tambuwal as well as other distinguished personalities.
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?The chairman of the occasion, Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi, in his speech, cautioned Nigerians over foreign education which, he said, is not sustainable. “The current situation in which uninterrupted university education is only available abroad is not acceptable. Nigerian institutions need some of the investments being made in formal overseas education to develop our own human resources and academic infrastructure,” he said.
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He said the federal government needs to curtail illegal universities, not just because of the illegalities involved ‘but also because of the way they send our young people who are eager for education off course and the damage they cause to our educational system generally’.
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He lamented the incessant strikes in government-owned institutions and applauded the foresight of the founder of Baze which, he said is the answer to many who would have been ‘taken abroad, while others would have failed to secure admissions from among the over 1.3 million seeking places in a university system that offers only about 260,000 places annually’ irrespective of the ‘poor quality of service delivery, overstretched infrastructure and cultism.’
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He further cautioned the students not to alienate themselves from the society and follow dead-end options like violence and cultism.
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Chief Shonekan, who served as the special guest of honour, said there is hardly an aspect of the society to encourage and support more than university education. He said ‘it is now clear that the world changes at a fast rate; knowledge, not resources or trade surplus, drives national development, investment not allocation and aid determines performance and growth, and strategy not policy gives the competitive advantage’.
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He extolled the students, saying ‘the extent to which you fulfill these largely define your individual characters. Your success here largely defines your individual characters’.
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The pro-chancellor and founder of the institution, Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, in his remarks, disclosed that one of the qualities that has made the institution stand out is the management’s ability to see that names and registration numbers are not used during exams. Rather, finger prints and bar codes have been introduced in order to protect the students from harassment and the lecturers from allegations.