We neglect our best minds for mediocres — Yar’adua

By Abubakar Yunusa

A former General Manager and Director at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Engr. Abubakar Lawal Yar’adua, has lamented the growing trend of overlooking Nigeria’s brightest minds in favour of mediocres.

Speaking during a public lecture held in his honour in Abuja, Yar’adua criticised what he described as the “misplacement of priorities” in governance and development.

The event, themed “Artificial Intelligence as a Catalyst for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Productivity in the Digital Age”, brought together technocrats, engineers and education stakeholders.

Yar’adua, who also served as National President of the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (NSChE), expressed concern over the preference for foreign “experts” in projects that Nigerian professionals are qualified to handle.

“Instead of training our own engineers, we rely on foreign ones. Many of them don’t even have the experience our people have. This kills the local industry,” he said.

He cited repeated failures in road infrastructure as an example of how corruption and disregard for technical standards have become normalised.

“You award a road contract today, and in two years it collapses. Then you award another one. It’s a cycle driven by corruption,” Yar’adua stated.

He called for a culture of integrity, saying that personal honesty and professional ethics are more important than financial rewards.

“To me, it’s not money that is important. It’s your integrity. If you work hard and are sincere, God will provide for you,” he added.

Also speaking at the event, Chairman of the occasion, Alhaji Ibrahim Abba, described Yar’adua as a man of rare integrity.

“He is honest and transparent. We need more people like him in this country. Unfortunately, we often discard the best and settle for mediocres,” Abba said.

Engr. Makama Baba Abdulahi, who was the Quest speaker, raised concern about the unregulated use of artificial intelligence in education.

He noted that while AI has great potential, it may also be weakening students’ critical thinking skills.

“Students now use AI to answer questions without understanding the principles behind them. It could make them intellectually lazy,” Abdullahi warned.

He emphasised the need for Nigerian education regulators to urgently develop a framework to guide AI adoption in schools.

 “AI is here to stay, but we must use it wisely. The students know more about it than many of their teachers,” he said.