By Bernard Ushie Odey Esq.
Our professors and lecturers occupy a very strategic position in national development. Universities are not meant to be centres of theory alone; they are supposed to be hubs of innovation, research, and practical solutions to societal problems. While government has a constitutional responsibility to provide infrastructure and funding, the academic community also has a role to play in driving solutions through research, innovation, and partnerships.
My candid advice to our university scholars is this:
Instead of allowing politics to consume the energy, intellect, and time meant for research and mentorship, there should be greater commitment to developing practical solutions that can improve the university environment and the nation at large. Nigerian universities are blessed with brilliant minds in engineering, energy, technology, agriculture, and environmental sciences. These intellectual resources can be harnessed to produce alternative power solutions, water systems, waste management innovations, and other community-based infrastructure.
Universities across the world thrive because their academics focus heavily on research, grants, inventions, patents, and industry collaboration. Our institutions should move in that direction. Professors and lecturers should champion solar energy projects, research-driven entrepreneurship, and local innovations capable of reducing dependence on government intervention alone.
Politics is important, but academics must be careful not to sacrifice scholarship, research excellence, and intellectual leadership on the altar of partisan engagement. The greatest contribution a lecturer can make to society is not merely political commentary, but producing ideas, innovations, and graduates that solve problems.
At the same time, government should also support universities with adequate funding, research grants, and enabling policies because meaningful research cannot thrive in an environment lacking basic support.
The way forward is collaboration, not blame. Government must play its part, and the academic community must rise to its responsibility as the engine room of innovation and national development.
Barr Bernard Ushie Odey is a Legal Practitioner and a Politician
