Vice President Prof. Yemi OsinbajoNo fewer than 24 egg-heads were at a dinner with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo last night, Thursday, where he delivered a lecture that concentrated on the virtue of merit and humanities.
Vice President Osinbajo, himself a Professor, kick-started his lecture by saying: “Permit me to reflect briefly this evening on two strands of thought with which I have been occupied for a while, but which the events of today brought to the fore: The importance of merit, and the centrality of the humanities.”
The roll-call of the egg-heads in attendance, all of who are holders of the Nigeria National Order Merit (NNOM) are:
1. Professor E. M Essien
2. Professor (Mrs.) Paulina K. Makinwa-Adebusoye
3. Professor Tanure Ojaide
4. Professor A. O. Anya
5. Professor B. O. Nnaji
6. Professor Hilary Inyang Inyang
7. Professor E. J. Alagoa
8. Professor Ayo Bamgbose
9. Professor J. P. Clark
10. Professor A. O. E. Animalu
11. Professor P. O. Ebigbo
12. Professor Oyewale Tomori
13. Professor A. F. Oluwole
14. Professor B. A. Osofisan
15. Professor Oladipo Adamolekun
16. Professor C. E. Nnolim
17. Professor A. O. Esogbue
18. Professor U. B. Ahmed
19. Professor T. O. Odugbemi
20. Professor Idris Mohammed
21. Professor J. K. Olupona
22. Eze (Professor) V. C. Ike
23. Professor L. A. Banjo
24. Professor S. C. Ohaegbulam
According to the Vice President, the greatness, fame and glory of a nation largely rely on the hard work, creativity and service of its best talents.
“And this is the best case that can be made for the promotion of a culture of merit and for policies that as a rule prefer the best and then make provision for quotas for the disadvantaged by reason of geography, gender or other factors.
“The best in our midst in their individual fields, in sports, science, technology, the professions, academia, the arts, and entertainment are given to societies to provide services and insights that only they can. In them lie the keys to the leaps from one level of knowledge to another.”
Professor Osinbajo swore that any society that favours exigencies of any kind over merit has chosen to function at its sub-optimal level and greatness must, by the force of principle, elude it.
He stressed that high attainment, whether it be for individuals or nations, is a function of the priority given to merit, “which brings me to the other issue, the growing tension amongst policymakers, some who take the position that our emphasis on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math should mean discouraging the humanities and arts.
“Indeed, at a recent meeting of policymakers, a distinguished academic argued that private universities should not be registered to offer courses in the humanities and arts, but to focus on STEM. While it is sometimes easier to see the contributions of scientists to development, it may require deeper introspection to recognize the arts as a rampart of the human spirit, and the bridgehead to meaning and understanding that it truly is.
“Understanding, said Drew Faust, derives from both what is measurable and what is unmeasurable – it is enhanced by scientific insights and mathematical proofs, by philosophical puzzles, and by literature and art that transform the heart as well as the mind.”
Osinbajo insisted that education must encompass all of these because it seeks to fashion, not just employees and employers, but human beings who can help create a better future for themselves and for the world.
Professor Osinbajo rationalised that science and technology go farther on the wings of the refined thinking, imagination, visioning and disciplined, introspection of the humanities, adding: “we are on the threshold of turning around our economy and polity irreversibly.
“For me, the incredible revelation of the past few years is the realization that if we can deal with corruption and abuse of power we would have resolved the most malignant our problems. There is no way that a nation whose resources are looted by its custodians can succeed.”
He stressed that as the government of Muhammadu Buhari is tackling the issue of corruption, it would continue to follow the process, saying: “the truth is that the easiest part is the arrest and apprehension of persons who have committed crime against the state.
“The more difficult part of it is in reforming those institutions that have been corrupted by years and years of neglect and the promotion of impunity. It is those institutions that we must strengthen and it is those institutions that are important in being able to carry forward all of the reforms that we are putting in place, that is by far a more difficult exercise.”
He assured Nigerians that President Buhari is completely committed and determined in ensuring that this country’s fortunes are turned around irreversibly.
“In conversations with him, he has said that it all that he has devoted the rest of his life in doing, and I am completely convinced that God spearing his life, we will see this turn around.”[myad]
