TEXT OF THE ADDRESS BY THE FOUNDER & CHANCELLOR, AFE BABALOLA UNIVERSITY, ADO-EKITI, ABUAD, AARE AFE BABALOLA, OFR, CON, SAN AT THE VIRTUAL MEETING ON DIGITAL REVOLUTION AS A TOOL IN REVAMPING NIGERIA’S EDUCATION IN POST COVID-19 ERA ON OCTOBER 12, 2020
TEXT OF THE ADDRESS BY THE FOUNDER & CHANCELLOR, AFE BABALOLA UNIVERSITY, ADO-EKITI, ABUAD, AARE AFE BABALOLA, OFR, CON, SAN AT THE VIRTUAL MEETING ON DIGITAL REVOLUTION AS A TOOL IN REVAMPING NIGERIA’S EDUCATION IN POST COVID-19 ERA ON OCTOBER 12, 2020
I seize this opportunity to thank Chief Yomi Otubela for organizing this virtual meeting
I also want to thank all proprietors of Private Schools for their patriotism in establishing schools with their hard earned money. This is more so in that investment in education is not one where one expects to make profit. More so that the university is registered as a non-profit organization
As you all know, education was brought into this country by missionaries CMS, Methodist, Baptist etc.
You will recall that the standard at that time was very, very high. There was discipline and the curriculum included history, geography, hygiene and hand work.
It was because of the quality and functional education at that time that many Nigerians including my poor self were able to read at home privately after primary six to obtain degrees from overseas university like London without attending any college or University.
You would recall that University of Ibadan was the first university in this country (University College). The standard was very high. The first generation universities, University of Ibadan, Ife, Lagos, Ahmadu Bello, Nsukka also had quality and functional education. The quality of their graduates was as good as those from Europe and America.
You all know what the quality is today. Because the government was unable to provide access to many students who qualify for admission, in 1993, a law was passed which permitted the establishment of private universities (Decree No. 9 of 1993). This is when generous Nigerians and religious bodies started to establish private universities.
Today, out of 179 Universities in Nigeria, 79 are owned by private investors while Federal government has only 44 universities and 48 by state government. As I am talking now, many universities cannot open their gates for students because of strikes. This is because of lack of facilities.
UNESCO expects government to spend 26% of their budget on education. This was achieved in the first republic. When the military took over in 1966, they reduced the amount voted for education came down to as low as 7%. Today is much worse. The teachers go on strike for non-payment of salaries.
There is no private universities where teachers are not paid regularly.
THE PLACE OF DIGITAL REVOLUTION IN REVAMPING NIGERIA’S EDUCATION:
The impact of the Corona-virus has made the “Digital Revolution as a Tool in Revamping Nigeria’s Education in Post Covid-19 Era” a moral imperative. This is because going digital means that you fully understand how your audience uses computer technology to access what they need at the right time”.
This Virtual meeting is timely because of my understanding that a virtual meeting is when people around the world, regardless of their location use video, audio and text to link up on-line. A Virtual meeting allows people to share information and data in real time without being physically located together.
And so this meeting is to educate your audience which in itself has brought a revolution about the way we were doing things way back in the analogue days.
I remember very vividly that when I was growing up, there were no cars in Ado-Ekiti, no electricity and there was no telephone. At school, we were using chalk and slates while on their part, our teachers were using chalk and Blackboard. But all of those have since changed. We can now communicate with the world right where you are seated through the instrumentalities of your hand set and computers. You can do all your bank transactions from your living rooms.
If any university hopes to become a world class university, it is imperative that all the teachers must go digital.
We should harness all these to make our education better.
I thank you for listening.
AARE AFE BABALOLA, CON, SAN, LL.D (London), LL. D. (UNILAG), LL. D (UI), D. Lit (NDA), FNSE, FNIALS.
Founder & Chancellor,
