UNIBEN Alumnus Challenges Academia on Industrialisation

Adibe Emenyonu

An alumnus of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Mr. Doyle Edeni, says plans have reached an advanced stage to establish a centre for Advanced Research in the university.

He challenged the academia to proffer solutions to the countless problems in Nigeria and push for industrialisation of the country.

Eden, who graduated from the Department of Biochemistry, is the managing director, Blue Seal Energy Group Inc, Helotes, Texas, US.

He said this in Benin City while delivering the Distinguished Alumnus Lecture Series of the Faculty of Life Sciences, with the theme ‘Bridging The Gap Between the Academia and Industry: an Alumnus Perspectives’.

“University is a centre of debate. The responsibility of the academia is to support the industrial growth of any nation,” he noted.

According to him, the university is the centre of research, learning and debate.​

“But I wonder: how could people keep quiet, and things are going wrong? We have concluded a plan to establish a centre for advanced research in this university,” he said.

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Lilian Salami, represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Ekenwan campus, Prof. John Oghene, said the university, with over 350,000 graduates in her 51-year history, ranks high not only in Nigeria but across the world, amongst reputable institutions that are contributing significantly to human capital development.

“Our products, including the guest speaker who is an engineer, have continued to distinguish themselves in their various fields of human endeavour,” explained Salami. “This high success rate lays credence to our claim as UNIBEST of the universe but also a high level of intellectual discipline and character building to which our students are exposed to while in school.”