‘FG Committed To Job Creation’

The Federal Government is in the process of providing necessary infrastructure that would create thousands of jobs for the teeming unemployed Nigerian graduates.

President,. Goodluck Jonathan stated this recently while speaking on the occasion of the 50th anniversary celebration of the University of Nigeria Nsukka(UNN), saying that education was top on the priority of his administration’s agenda.

According to the President, who was represented on the occasion by the Vice President, Arch.Namadi Sambo, his administration was also working tirelessly on wiping out graduate unemployment by ensuring that universities play a central role in building the nation’s economy.

This, he said, is important in strengthening the country’s democracy “and our ability to compete favourably with the rest of the world.”

President Jonathan stated that in order to address the knowledge gaps evident in the nation’s current education structure, “our universities should play the role of cultivating highly educated people with right knowledge, competencies, skills and attitudes to play in the aggressively competitive modern knowledge economy.”

He continued that, “We have demonstrated our sincerity of purpose in recent times with special grants to twelve federal universities . This initiative, will provide regional central laboratories , improved infrastructure, publishing houses , as well as the N12 billion Book Fund.

“In addition, government has provided through the ETF ,a central Research Fund of N3 billion. The National Universities Commission (NUC) has initiated a process for ensuring that we have in the shortest possible time at least five world class universities from out of Nigeria .”

In his address earlier, the UNN Vice Chancellor, Prof. Bartho Okolo, recalled that the institution was founded on the eve of Nigeria’s independence in October 1, 1960, by the pioneer President of Nigeria, late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, who charged the new university with the responsibility of producing not just the manpower, but also leaders needed to guide the newly independent nation to greatness.

Okolo said, “UNN, which was considered novel in both structure and curriculum,was deliberately tailored to serve the social and economic needs, and day-to-day life of the people of Nigeria . This,informed the introduction of such courses as Economics, Political Science and Sociology in the early curriculum of the university.

“We desire and require innovation in curriculum design and development to ensure that both timeless universals and practical ideas relevant to today’s world are communicated to the students”.

The high point of the anniversary was the cutting of the Anniversary Cake.

Dignitaries in attendance  include the host governor, Mr. Sullivan Chime and his Ebonyi State counterpart, Chief Martin Elechi, PDP national chairman, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, former Vice President, Dr Alex Ekwueme, former deputy governor of Rivers State, Sir Gabriel Toby and immediate past UNN VC, Venerable Chinedu O. Nebo.