Felix Ikem, Nsukka
Managing Director Splat Petroleum Development Company Plc, Mr. Austin Avuru, has urged the Federal Government to increase funding of education tenfold from the present situation.
Avuru said this, in Nsukka, on Thursday, while presenting Special Convocation and 58th Founders Day Lecture of University of Nigeria, Nsukka, at the Princess Elexandra Auditorium.
He maintained that increase in education funding would be the only way to transform education completely in the next 20 years.
“Education spending has to increase to tenfold over the next twenty years if education has to be transformed complete in the country.
“This increase will evolve a skill-based society that can propel the economy to its full potential,” he said.
Avuru urged government to use Rwanda education transformation as case study adding that education transformation had stimulated various sectors of economy and fast-track national development in Rwanda.
The lecturer advocated for birth control policy in the country that would ensure that every family has maximum of two children to avert uncontrollable population explosion in future.
“No amount of money invested in education in the next twenty years without population control will yield the required result.
“Our population growth must be reduced from the current 3.5 per cent to no more than 1.5 to enable the country avert overpopulation that will put serious pressure on the economy,” he said.
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The MD expressed special appreciation to UNN for conferring on him honorary doctorate degree in Business Administration, adding that it would enable him to do more to humanity.
“I am humbled by this doctorate award by the university, this will challenged to do more to the university and humanity in general, ” he said.
In a remark, the Vice- Chancellor University of Nigeria Nsukka, Prof. Benjamin Ozumba said his administration had revised the academic curricula of the institution to reflect current global realities.
Adding that prior to the inception of his administration most faculties and departments had no accreditation.
“As you are probably aware, this is the last Founders’ Day Celebration that i shall be presiding over as the Vice Chancellor as my tenure will end next year.
“As am taking now, over 100 academic programmes running in this University are fully accredited,” he said.