Tertiary schools must collaborate to tackle global challenges, says VC Mahfouz Adedimeji

Mahfouz Adedimeji, vice-chancellor of the African School of Economics (ASE), has urged tertiary institutions to collaborate in responding to the world’s most pressing challenges.

Adedimeji delivered a speech titled “Ideas Rule the World” at the institution’s fourth public lecture in Abuja on Wednesday.

The keynote lecture, themed “The 21st Century Nigerian University: Pitfalls and Pathways”, was delivered by Moses Ochonu, a professor at Vanderbilt University, United States.

Adedimeji, citing a University of Lincoln report, outlined 10 key global issues, including shifting economic powers, living in a globalised world, lack of vision, and rapid technological disruption.

He also listed migration and mobility, exemplified by Nigeria’s “Japa syndrome”, alongside conflict, civic disconnection, widening inequality, and environmental degradation.

Issues of identity and shifting societal norms were also highlighted as challenges needing urgent academic attention.

He said responding to these issues would require a proactive and collaborative approach among institutions of higher learning.

Drawing from the metaphor of an eagle that lifts a tortoise and drops it to crack its shell, Adedimeji encouraged Nigerians to treat obstacles as platforms for growth.

“An obstacle,” he said, “is converted by an eagle into an opportunity to deploy its full strength and soar even higher.”

Adedimeji cautioned against working in silos, noting that universities must rely on cooperation to make meaningful progress.

“I, therefore, call for concerted efforts of the government, academia, and industry/society to accord the university its pride of place by doing what is right at the right time,” he said.

“It is said that one can travel fast alone, but only far together.”

In his remarks, Ochonu identified key obstacles confronting Nigerian universities.

He said the cosmopolitan values that once defined higher education have been eroded by provincialism and academic inbreeding.

Ochonu advocated for a Student Bill of Rights and called for recognition and reward of quality teaching to enhance academic standards.

The lecture drew stakeholders from across the university sector, including Abdullahi Yusuf Ribadu, executive secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC).

Also present was the secretary-general of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU), among others.