A university teacher, Prof Anthonia Eghieso Omehia, has called for the establishment of Faculty Libraries in tertiary institutions for research effectiveness, specialisations, visibility, and ease of harnessing knowledge.
She made the call while delivering the 51st inaugural lecture of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE) on yesterday at the university auditorium.
The Professor of Library and Information Science disclosed that such libraries should be headed by qualified librarians or information professionals.
She also called for compulsory training and retraining of librarians for effectiveness, review of library school’s curriculum to attune with the future library where robots do most of the library activities.
Omehia challenged professional bodies, such as the Nigeria Library Association (NLA), International Federation of Library Association and Institutes (IFLA), and others to ensure that library budgets are released on time, library fully equipped with modern technology, and different areas of African knowledge harnessed and represented in the digital global sphere.
While hinting that harnessing knowledge in timeless catalyst is the pathway for innovation and creativity in Nigeria, the 51st inaugural lecturer urged Government and all stakeholders to attune with the knowledge society demands.
She advised the Nigeria as a nation to embrace knowledge creation and application for prosperity, adding that a nation that relegates information and knowledge is a lost nation.
According to her, untapped indigenous knowledge, poor harnessing of knowledge by librarians, intellectual property theft, the ills of plagiarism, misinformation and poor use of library information resources by students, researchers, industrialists and stakeholders in the timeless catalysts are the visible setbacks of this knowledge era.
Omehia emphasised that repositioning libraries as a learning hub is now because the library is a sanctuary for intellectual exploration, a catalyst for academic achievement and a cornerstone for lifelong learning.
Harnessing the intellectual output in a timeless library, Omehia said it is the way to remediate education and other developmental ventures.
She stated that failure to harness the knowledge resources in the timeless library makes one a very ignorant personality (VIP).
In his speech, the Acting Vice Chancellor of IAUE, Prof Okechuku Onuchuku, commended the 51st inaugural lecturer for what he described as a five star presentation.
He stressed the need to encourage absolute utilisation of knowledge and for people to use their discovery for societal problems.
Onuchuku, while declaring that knowledge-driven economy is what powers development in contemporary society, noted that the inability to utilise knowledge attained, or transform what we generate as knowledge in the university and research centres is a major setback in the country.
The Vice Chancellor advocated for the building and establishment of community library and rewarding academic excellence for reading culture to be taken more seriously and also for people to develop knowledge from which society can apply to solve problems.
Also speaking, the Acting Registrar of IAUE, Mr Donald Okogbaa, lauded Professor Omehia for her scholarly presentation.

By: Sogbeba Dokubo