Constitution Can’t Guarantee Democracy – Don

A university don has described the country’s constitution as inadequate to guarantee democracy because of the literacy level of the populace.

Prof. Chidi Ugwu, Acting Vice Chancellor of the Enugu State University of Technology stated this recently at Agbani, near Enugu at the 2nd National Conference of the Faculty of Education of (ESUT).

He said that “any meaningful effort at building and sustaining our democracy must begin with the education of the citizenry.

“Education is a vital component of any democratic society, democracy is not possible in a society where the leaders and the led are grossly ignorant, uneducated and naïve.” he said.

He pointed out that democracy could be nurtured and sustained only when democratic values were rooted in the hearts, minds and actions of ordinary men and women.

Ugwu said that educational and ethical values would ensure adequate security in a given society, adding that education should target character development.

He said that an enlightened citizenry by reason of education was a great catalyst for national development.

Presenting an address, the Dean, Faculty of Education, Prof. Emmanuel Iloputaife, described the theme of the conference — Education for Democracy, Security and National Development” as the main challenge facing Nigeria.

He said that the attainment of human security which include economic, food, health, environmental, personal and political would truly guarantee democracy.

Iloputaife, however, said “we cannot achieve democracy, security and human development without education because education makes people easy to lead, to govern and difficult to enslave.

The occasion was declared open by the Commissioner of Education, Mr Festus Uzor, represented by Director of Higher Education in the Ministry, Mr C.C. Ozioko.