Invest in Knowledge Economy, UNICAL Professor Charges Governments

The 123rd Inaugural lecturer of the University of Calabar (UNICAL), Prof. Chika Uchendu has charged the government to invest massively in the knowledge economy as a precursor for educational goal attainment and economic stability.

Jun 18, 2024 - 15:57 Updated: Jun 18, 2024 - 21:46

Invest in Knowledge Economy, UNICAL Professor Charges Governments

The 123rd Inaugural lecturer of the University of Calabar (UNICAL), Prof. Chika Uchendu has charged the government to invest massively in the knowledge economy as a precursor for educational goal attainment and economic stability.

Prof. Chika gave the charge at the Unical International Conference Centre while delivering the institution's Inaugural lecture on the topic; " Managing Education in Knowledge Economy: Face- Out and Road to Goshen".

According to her, investing in a knowledge economy will produce tangible results as it will affect the quality of lives of citizens positivelyShe said in embracing the knowledge economy the government must focus more on intellectual capacity development, which according to her, will yield unquantifiable advances in ICT, Science, technology and innovation resulting in wealth creation and providing opportunities for citizens to channel their potentials towards profitable ventures.

Chika Uchendu, a Professor of Educational Administration and Planning said from Nigerian experience, knowledge has produced partly fruitful outcomes which are not enough to place her shoulder to shoulder with other countries.

The Inaugural lecturer said poor investment in knowledge by the government has produced costly and negative outcomes, adding that, both developing and developed countries are investing massively in applying the knowledge economy to drive their education system. They are reaping tremendous dividends while Nigeria appears to be trailing in the far distance.

Hear her, " face- out as a result of failure to invest and exploit the gains of knowledge economy characterized by human capital development and deployment of technology have almost crippled our nation.

"We can come out of this by taking the road to Goshen where we must reposition our education system to embrace intellectual skill acquisition and provide an enabling environment through funding, leadership and motivation for intellectual capacity potentials of the beneficiaries of our education system to unleash to the fullestProf. Chika said Nigeria as a developing country needs to reduce the emphasis on a resources-based economy such as crude oil to a knowledge and human capital-based economy where emphasis is based on training and equipping the human resources to function according to their inherent capacities and capabilities.

She said that given our vast potential both in human and material, Nigeria can become a knowledge-based economy, saying that to achieve this, there must be adequate investment in education especially at the tertiary level with emphasis on accelerating scientific and technological Knowledge growth and development.

The Inaugural lecturer added that there must be a serious commitment by the government to establishing the right environment in tertiary institutions devoid of trade disputes with staff and encouraging changes that stimulate a Knowledge-driven economy.

The Vice Chancellor of Unical, Prof. Florence Obi, in her remarks, corroborated the inaugural lecturer on the need for the government to invest in the Knowledge economyRepresented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic, Prof. Angela Oyo-Ita, she said the time is ripe for Nigeria to embrace technological and educational advancement by boosting its Knowledge economy.

Prof. Obi described the inaugural lecturer as an astute teacher and educationist and thanked her for paying her intellectual debt.

The high point of the lecture was the presentation of a memento to the inaugural lecturer by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic on behalf of the Vice Chancellor.

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