Bianca Iboma
Former vice chancellor, Joseph Ayo Babalola University, Osun State, Prof. Sola Fajana has stressed the need to use technology as a tool that would reinvigorate the education sector.
He stated this while delivering the fifth distinguished lecture of Mountain Top University (MTU), Magboro, Ogun State.
The theme was “Promoting educational rebirth through faith-based institutions.”
He noted that Nigerians and its leaders have shown concern about the quality, access and functionality of education as a veritable tool to advance the course of development.
Fajana added that many private tertiary institutions were faith-based and designed to ensure quality based on challenges experienced by public tertiary institutions such as the series of strikes, menace of cultism, among other issues.
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He said many religious organisations felt it was necessary to establish the institutions to correct some of the ills in public education sector as well as provide quality education to shape the destinies of the youths.
“Faith-based institutions have consistently played a credible role in the advancement of education in Nigeria. Education is a veritable instrument in character moulding. It is vital for our youths to get the right type of education so they can become good leaders and citizens in the society,” he stressed.
He explained that Nigerians have seen the negative results of secular education propagated and implemented by past governments but when private institutions began operations in the country, the results contrasted sharply as the new policy of private sector education took care of the constant strike issues where students have to stay many months at home pending when government and the unions will resolve their crises.
The former VC stated that religious organisations coming into the education sector has really contributed a lot towards improving the quality of education in Nigeria,adding that they have been able to effect changes in the area of morality, godliness to the nation’s governance and day-to-day affair in the society.
Said he: ‘‘Everyone knows that tertiary institutions are more than just earning a degree or choosing a career, institutions that are faith-based are related to faith tradition.
“Most students who attend these institutions have good places to undertake their life journey. When one chooses a faith-based institution it is more than just having a spiritual growth, as this institutions offers academic and student life programmes with a point of view of all round education.’’
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In his remarks, the Vice Chancellor of MTU, Prof Elijah Ayolabi said the university and most faith-based institutions are established for the progress of Nigeria, Africa and the world and are open to people of all faith who must abide by the rules and regulations of the owners.
Ayolabi, who is the first African to be honoured as the 2015 Honorary Lecturer to the Middle-East and Africa by The Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG), the international umbrella body for all
Geophysicists, said “though admission is open to people from different religious bodies but they would have to abide by the rules and regulations of faith-based institutions established for missions
and total development of the society.
According to him, faith-based institutions have the ability to transform the declined in the education sector that the nation is experiencing at the moment.
