Nigeria must focus
on rebuilding the socio-economic life of citizens, particularly those
living in the Northeast where terrorism thrives, he said after he was installed
as the Chancellor of the University of Ibadan (UI) at the institution’s 67th
Foundation Day in the Oyo State capital.
Reeling out
staggering data on the deplorable state of socio-economic life in the North,
Alhaji Abubakar said there were more than 2.5 million out-of-school children
(popularly called Almajiri)
in some states in the North.
He explained that
the figure is higher than those enrolled in school in some states.
In the Sultan’s
view, poor socio-economic factors help terrorism thrive because the youth are
not gainfully engaged and their minds are not developed.
According to him, insurgency
has left over two million people displaced, with implications on health, social
infrastructure and security.
To overcome the
challenge, the UI Chancellor said Nigeria must focus on increasing school
enrollment, training youths in acquisition of skills and opening up
opportunities for skilled labour.
Emphasising that terrorism
has nothing to do with Islam, Alhaji Abubakar described terrorists as “deluded
individuals who are hiding under religion to perpetrate evil”.
He urged the UI to
lead in the training of youths in character building and researches that can
expose practical steps in dealing with society’s challenges.
The Acting Vice
Chancellor, Prof. Ayelari Emilolorun , who read the valedictory speech of the
outgoing VC, Prof. Isaac Adewole, said the institution awarded 456 doctorate
degrees from 12 faculties and institutes this year. According to him, the
figure is unrivalled in Africa.
He said his
administration focused on staff welfare, infrastructural development and
security to enable the university deliver on its mandate of quality training
and research.
Adewole said there
were already 219 linkages with several universities all over the world with 19
others in the pipeline.
President Muhammadu
Buhari, who was represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, stressed the need
to move energy source thermal to solar, saying the government was arranging
with some companies in the United Kingdom (UK) to achieve solar energy
production.
Buhari added that
there were plans for self-sustenance in rice production to achieve food
security instead of relying on importation.
The main focus of
his administration, he said, is the common man.
Buhari urged
universities to be sensitive to developments around the world to enable them
key into them to make better impacts.
The Sultan and
Emeritus Prof. Ayo Banjo were awarded honorary doctoral degrees.
After its founding
in 2002, Boko Haram’s increasing radicalization led to a violent uprising in
July 2009 in which its leader was summarily executed. Its unexpected
resurgence, following a mass prison break in September 2010, was accompanied by
increasingly sophisticated attacks, initially against soft targets, and
progressing in 2011 to include suicide bombings of police buildings
and the United Nations office in Abuja. The government’s
establishment of a state of emergency at the beginning of 2012,
extended in the following year to cover the entire northeast of Nigeria,
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