By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan
Former President, Nigerian Academy of Sciences , Professor Oyewale Tomori on Thursday described Nigeria as a sick country, where there is aversion to excelllence.
Professor Tomori stated this while delivering the 19th Benjamin Oluwakayode Osuntokun Memorial Lecture titled ” Rescuing Nigeria : Restoring Her Health and Her Sanity , held at the Benjamin Osuntokun Auditorium , College of Medicine, University College Hospital (UCH) , Ibadan.
According to the former Vice Chancellor, Redeemer University, Nigeria as a country “is fast drifting into a state of total collapse unless there is urgent step to reinvent itself in a new process of creative thinking , the entire system will be shut.”
“Nigeria is a sick country, where there is aversion to excellence, desire to accept and settle for second best , culture of subtle and bare faced corruption, disdain for paying attention to details and talent for misapplication of resources,” he said.
Professor Tomori lamented that Nigeria, despite having all that it takes to achieve greatness chose the path of retrogression, saying, “the sad part of Nigeria’s life is that it pretend not to know that it is sick”
He noted that it was not as if the change came on Nigeria as a ” Tsunami ” without warning but that ” the change came as the relentless dripping of the acid of corruption .It was gradual ; it was slow but regular and that fall is a continuing journey ; a step by step march into the new and decadent future.”
Speaking further, Professor Tomori
said “I think the problem started with the neglect of proper education at home, at our educational institutions and our government offices and houses of assemblies ; where our representatives and senators gather to determine the the future of our nation”.
Emphasizing that “we need to take a hard and serious review of our university system with a view to restoring the university to it former glory “, he the system has become so serious that vice chancellors are now competing with seasoned politicians to enter Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC) net.
” The first step is for the academic community to accept that there is a major problem with the university system .The system needs to examine itself and focus on being relevant to national development… Second, our government should not approve the establishment of more universities but upgrade existing ones and fully maximise the utilization of the resources “
Professor Tomori added that “the federal character policy has contributed in no small measure to the problem of Nigeria. We need to pursue an educational policy that will ensure that in 30-40 years from now , no part of Nigeria will be described as educationally disadvantaged. Having achieved that , we will not need to give undue federal character advantage to any section of this country. Time is ripe for all Nigerians to be treated with justice and fair play in issues of appointment and promotion at federal and state civil service”.
The lecture was attended by the management of the University College Hospital ( UCH) led by the Chief Medical Director ( CMD) , Professor Temitope Alonge , former Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Professor O. Oyediran, the Chairman of the occasion, Professor Fola Esan, professor of Haematology, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Professor Jide Osuntokun, and other members of the Board of Trustees of Benjamin Oluwakayode Osuntokun Trust amongst others.
