Embrace Core Values, Shun Ethnicity, Religious Bigotry for Devt of the Country, REC Tasks Nigerians
Ibrahim.Oyewale in Lokoja
Nigerians have been urged to shun ethnicity, religious and sentiments and embrace core values for the rapid growth of the socio-economic development of the country, promote peace, unity and build a formidable and strong nation.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of Independent National Electoral Commission, Benue State, Professor Sam Egwu, made this call while delivering a pre 6th convocation lecture titled: ‘Tertiary Education, Citizenship and Democratic Development’ at Salem University Lokoja yesterday, stating that Nigerians should discard those values that divide the country.
Egwu tasked the Nigerian universities to promote citizenship education in realization of governance to enhance socio- economic development of Nigeria.
He explained that discourse on citizenship in Nigeria needs to be nuanced to bring into sharp focus in the multifarious dimensions, including the debilitating impact of politics of citizenship democratic development and national cohesion.
Professor Egwu has identified the failure of the successive Nigeria governments in the post- colonial era to invest in the development of education commensurate with the needs of the country.
He lamented that this partly accounted for the wide gap between available education opportunities and aspirations of the people, stressing that the impact of globalization and ideology of neo -liberalism fostered on Nigerian universities by the Bretton Woods institutions, especially the World Bank.
According to him, there is always the tendency to conflate democratic development with popular participation. Although the two concept are linked , democratic development appears wider in scope and in substance than popular participation .
He noted that the universities have a crucial role to play in contributing to emergence of democratic development by building a democratic citizens for a prosperous future for Nigeria.
“By doing this, the universities will contribute to emergence of a new vision of democracy, a democracy not conceived only in terms of election and abstract rights, but one in which the constitution and rule of law are institutionalised political, social and economic rights well protected and in which the people have real decision-making powers beyond the realm of voting,” he stressed.
