NSUKKA — THE University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN, kick-started activities marking its 55th anniversary weekend, having been established by the former ceremonial President of Nigeria and Owelle of Onitsha, late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and some of his contemporaries in October 1960, the same month the country got independence from the British colonialists. Speaking on the occasion, the Enugu State governor Ifeanyi Ugwanyi who was the guest lecturer, said that the first indigenous university had acquitted itself in the area of research and learning.
Ugwuanyi, who delivered the lecture at the Princess Alexandra Auditorium, PAA, at Nsukka, however, lamented that despite Nigeria having practised democracy for the past 15 years, the country’s socio economic indices remained unpleasant and depressing. His words: “Let me begin by expressing sincere appreciation to the management of UNN for inviting me as Guest Lecturer to deliver the 55th Founders’ Day Lecture as part of the 55th anniversary celebration of the university. The UNN has indeed come a long way.
“From her bold beginnings on October 7, 1960 as one of the few universities, which at the time started as a full-fledged university without first going through years of tutelage either as a college or an affiliate of an already existing university, as was apparently the tradition then, to its unparalleled and unchallenged excellence in arts, innovations in science and engineering, and breakthroughs in medical research and practice.
“As the University celebrates her 55th Founders’ Day, her products across the globe speak volumes of her achievements. In this respect, I recall the words of Dr. George Marion Johnson, the first vice chancellor of the university who in his address to the pioneer alumni decades back stated that, the reputation of the University of Nigeria is in the hands of its graduates. By your success and failure, shall your university be known…. As the UNN attains stature and international recognition, you too shall enjoy prestige and stature…
“The milestones, which have been attained and set by products of the university, make me a proud alumnus of this institution. In addition to so many noteworthy achievements, just some years back in the United Kingdom, an alumnus of the Faculty of Engineering of this University, Mr. Osita Onuma, achieved an all-time record performance, which not only upturned the 124-year record of the legendary University of Cambridge College of Engineering, but has remained unmatched for several years now and may likely remain so for a long time to come until, perhaps, another worthy lion or lioness revisits Onuma’s performance.
“Everywhere you go to in Nigeria, Africa and indeed the world, the visibility of the gifted, endowed, and impactful products of UNN has made our great alma mater invincible. I thank God, my parents and the University for making me belong here.
I like also to thank you for the choice of the subject, ‘Legislation as an Instrument for Social Justice in a Growing Democracy,’ not only because it addresses the issues of a more just and democratic society, which are very dear to me and all Nigerians, but understandably so, given my direct involvement with the legislature for 12 years as a member of the House of Representatives from 2003 when I was first elected to represent Igbo-Eze North/Udenu Federal Constituency to two other subsequent elections into the house which terminated in May 2015.
He explained that the country still battled with high unemployment rate which surged from 3.8 per cent in 2002 to about 19.7 per cent in 2008, now stands at 23.9 per cent in 2011 while some have projected it to about 40 per cent in 2014. According to him, lack of employment had remained one of the major contributory factors to both poverty and inequality, as the poverty situation had further reinforced by the high level of inequality. “The Gini Coefficient for Nigeria in 2007 was 0.48, placing the country among those with the highest inequality levels in the world”, he said.
Highlighting further the high poverty level in Nigeria, Gov. Ugwuanyi noted however that the menace remained largely a rural phenomenon with about 75 percent of the poor residing in the rural areas as at 2010. “ In view of the rapid rate of urbanisation in Nigeria, the increasing number of the urban-poor in recent years was a worrisome indication that the urban areas were not providing the opportunities anticipated, as people migrate from the rural areas to the urban cities in search of greener pastures,” he added.
The governor pointed out that the economy of the country grew at an average of about 6.2 percent annually between 2002 and 2011, moving in the same direction up to 2015, as there were concerns within government circles about the apparent disconnect between the country’s economic growth and human development. In his welcome address, the Vice Chancellor of the UNN, Prof. Benjamin Ozumba, said that the university had improved both in research, development and learning since its establishment in 1960, and implored both staff and students of the institution to continue to strive in their chosen fields to achieve the aims and objectives of the founding fathers.
Ozumba explained that Azikiwe, along with other Nigerians established the enviable university to cater for the needs of the people in building a future and new educational status as encapsulated in the evolution of the institution. The vice chancellor noted that the UNN began with a population of 220 students and 13 academic staff on October 7, 1960, adding that the situation had since changed as “the university now has over 30,000 students with over 2,000 academic staff.”
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