On February 3, at the University of Benin's Akin Deko Memorial Lecture Auditorium, the 14th annual Ralph Opara Memorial Lecture will be presented by Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). Benin is in the Edo State.
Presenting on the subject of "State of Tertiary Education in Nigeria: Identifying Historical Issues and Misconceptions; Contemplating Solutions," Prof. Osodeke will be speaking at the event.
The National Association of Seadogs (Pyrates Confraternity) started the lecture as a way to honor one of its founders, Ralph Opara, who was a prolific writer, producer, and broadcaster.
According to a statement from Mr. Abiola Owoaje, the NAS Capoon, the Ralph Opara Memorial Lecture series has become a legitimate forum for debating current national and international concerns, for fostering and as well as encouraging effective leadership, responsibility, democracy, citizen involvement, and economic growth.
In addition to Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie, a former ASUU president, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, Dr. Sam Amadi, Mr. Femi Falana, and Dr. Hussani Abdu are some of the previous Ralph Opara Memorial Lecture speakers, he revealed.
The worrying degeneration, in Owoaje's opinion, that permeates Nigeria's higher educational institutions is what gave rise to this year's lecture, which will focus on tertiary education.
He said that as a group established on a college campus that only accepts members from the intellectual pool of graduates from universities and polytechnics, "we are concerned that our higher institutions have significantly lost value as citadels of learning due to inadequate funding, lack of infrastructure, and inadequate educational and recreational facilities, while becoming a breeding ground for corruption." Gangsterism, violence, and crime
He emphasized that the lecture aims to address the complex issues facing Nigeria's higher education institutions, such as the need for infrastructure improvement, the menace of cultism, and the Nigerian government's ongoing disregard for the expansion of higher education in the nation.
He revealed that Prof. Temi Akporhonor, the dean of the postgraduate school at Delta State University in Abraka, Delta State, will preside over the event, and Dr. Joan Oviawe, the honorable commissioner for education in Edo State, Dr. Osagie Obayuwana, the former attorney general and commissioner for justice in Edo State, and Prof. Samuel Ovenseri Aibueku, the former director of the Joint Universities Preliminary Examination.
The event is anticipated to draw ASUU members and university officials, including the Senior Staff Association of Tertiary Institutions, Students of Tertiary Institutions, Civil Society Organizations, and the Media (SSANU), Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Education Institutions (NASU), and Students of Tertiary Institutions.
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