Address The Country’s Needs, Jonathan Urges Researchers

                                    
President Goodluck Jonathan has urged researchers in the country to channel their efforts to the needs of the country.

Speaking, Wednesday, in Abuja at the 2013 Justice Karibe-Whyte convocation lecture of the National Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) in Abuja, Jonathan said Nigeria would benefit from cutting edge researches.
The president who is away at Germany was represented by the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke (SAN). He gave an assurance that his administration would continue to harness the abundant human resources in the country.
“It is beyond doubt that Nigeria has one of the largest human resources in the world.”
In his address at the event, Director General of NIALS, Prof. Epiphany Azinge (SAN), said the institute had since 1995 produced more than 300 students with post-graduate degrees in Legislative Drafting.
He added that NIALS made history in 2013 by producing two candidates with Doctor of Philosophy degree in Legislative Drafting.
“The law establishing the institute mandates us to pursue a course of study leading to the award of post-graduate degrees in legislative drafting.
“Consequent upon this, the Institute has since 1995 graduated more than 300 students in this highly technical aspect of law,” he said.
He added that the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, is the first sitting president of an African country to deliver the Justice Karibi-Whyte convocation lecture.
Azinge explained that NIALS chose Museveni because of his credentials “as a renowned philosopher, consummate intellectual, visionary leader and outstanding administrator.”
He added that the Ugandan President took his people and country from the brink of disintegration through the process of regeneration to the point of economic stability and political renaissance.
In the lecture titled: Education and National Development: An African Perspective; Museveni spoke of the importance of human resources in the continent.
Museveni stressed that African countries must not neglect their human resources while promoting natural resources.
He said Japan and China are currently among the top three economies in the world even though they are not endowed with natural resources.
According to him “Natural resources like oil, gas and others are very important but they cannot be as important as human resources.
“Japan and China are two countries that depend largely on their highly educated, skilled human population.
“We are lucky that we also have a lot of mineral resources but some of them are exhaustible.”
Museveni noted that most African countries have not developed the right policies to drive development.
According to him, African countries started getting independence about 50 years ago but none of the African countries have attained first world or even middle income status because of policy and ideological disorientation.
“African countries started getting independence about 50 years ago but none of the African countries have attained first world or even middle income status because of policy and ideological disorientation on the part of the African countries,” he said.
He also faulted sectarian and chauvinistic policies in African countries, saying, “If any person promotes friction in a society, that fellow is the biggest enemy.”