By Chidinma Ewunonu-Aluko
A Christian group, Ibadan Varsity Christian Union (IVCU) Alumni Association, has urged Nigerian leaders not to toil with the nation’s educational system to avoid truncating the future of youths.
The association made the plea on Sunday in a communique signed by its outgoing President, Dr Emmanuel Ajala, at the end of its 2022 Re-union in Ibadan.
“Toiling with the educational system and handling it with triviality will be tantamount to toiling with the future of youths of this nation.
“There is a need to align the education policies, curricula and training programmes in a people-centric way, with national development priority and needs, international development strategies and labour market requirements.
“Doing so will address the challenges facing our young people, fight extreme poverty and allow for a maximisation of the benefits of globalisation for youths,” Ajala said.
Also, he called for increased attention to improving participation rates of young people, particularly the marginalised youths, to ensure that they acquired the needed knowledge, capacities, skills and ethical values to fulfil their roles as agents of transformation.
“For each attack Nigeria receives, something potentially and deadly threatened our unity and peace.
“The dislocation of spiritual joints and marrows calls for heavy cries and wails from all quarters in Nigeria.
“We know certainly that our defence is broken; our garrisons have been trampled upon; we’ve been left too vulnerable to cruelty of the enemy that have invaded our political space.
“If not quickly arrested, the intention of the enemy is to kill, steal and destroy completely,” Ajala said.
According to him, we will be doing ourselves a huge disservice to apportion blames on anyone.
“So, we rise to take responsibility as a representation of the Body of Christ in Nigeria.
“And, we start to do this by bringing these insights to all stakeholders’ fore for consideration.
“We are gatekeepers and we shall be committed to ensuring that we continue to hold the nation in prayers and lift it up to the hands of the Almighty God until He reigns supreme in His splendour and righteousness throughout the land of Nigeria,” he said.
According to him, IVCUAF has greatly influenced the nation’s academic, professional and sociopolitical milieu aside its impact in Christian circles worldwide.
Ajala said that on this premise, the association found a ground to make vital contributions to the nation’s state of affairs and proffer spiritual insights and solutions to the array of problems.
“Every nation has a gate and this gate is very critical to the life and survival of any nation, the main gate of any nation is the gate of leadership.
“This gate is so critical that it affects every other gate that defends a nation.
“It is trite that everything rises and falls on leadership; every other gate takes its compass from whatever happens at this main gate,” the association leader said.
According to him, as another electioneering process looms, all levels of governance- national, state and local, only men, who are discreet and wise should be elected.
“In the exercise of our franchise, we must not yield to the uprising and enduring fluke of the enemy. We must arise and repair the gates that are broken down.
“Another very critical gate that takes an acute alignment from the main gate of leadership is the gate of Education.
“Education is light; knowledge is power and every man needs a modicum of light to see through any dark path,” Ajala said.
He also underscored the need for the country to arise and rebuild its education system at all levels.
“We must return priority to the educational system, because it is the factory that produces sound minds and vibrant youths who will become such leaders who will seat at the main gate of leadership,” Ajala said. (NAN)
