…..as UI VC tasks Social scientists to influence Nigeria’s policy landscape
A Nigerian and professor at the Wits School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, Adebayo Olukoshi, has challenged African leaders to develop home-grown solutions to solve the myriad of problems confronting the continent.
According to him, most of the western ideologies and theories have failed to address the peculiar problems in Africa, charging African leaders and scholars to develop African-based solutions to solve the array of social problems confronting the continent.
Olukoshi, a former executive secretary at CODESRIA, identified leadership crisis as one of the major causes hindering development in Africa.
He said this in Ibadan as the keynote speaker at the opening of the second annual Ibadan International Social Science Conference organised by the Faculty of the Social Sciences, University of Ibadan
Olukoshi in his keynote presentation titled, “Social Sciences for changing times”, said successive governments and regimes in most of the African countries have been marred with leadership crisis and lack of vision, maintaining that purposive governance that can change the status quo have eluded the continent for many years.
He further enjoined African scholars and leaders to develop an African-based curriculum that will be used to train future leaders in the continent, urging government at all levels to develop a curriculum that will address the needs of the people.
Olukoshi said, “By now, we should begin to think of how to have our own solutions. For us in Africa, it is time to train people who will think in a way to provide solutions.
“Our curriculum and reward system have to be changed. We are in the position to change it. There is no continent that has been enslaved more than Africans. But if Africa withdraws its resources, I can tell you that the whole of Europe will be in crisis.
“It is about leadership. Every government comes in with its own agent. Nobody is looking at what has happened in the past. No country transforms in such a way.
“Chinese know where they want to be at the end of the 21st century. Some people are now thinking about how to populate Mars. They will leave us behind, then we will be going there as tourists with a visa to enter there. So, it is about leadership, it is about thinking about the future, thinking of many years to come.
In his opening remarks, the Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Prof. Kayode Adebowale, described the theme of the conference titled, “Social Science in a changing world : Challenges, socio-economic adaptation and resilience”, as not only timely, but critically urgent particularly in an era characterized by unprecedented volatility, complexities, technological destruction, geo- political strives and inequalities among others
He charged scholars at the conference to ensure that researches carried out are translated into tangible policy recommendations and actionable community interventions, saying “we must speak not only for academia, but also to policy makers, We must speak and liaise with the civil societies and the public with clarity and relevance.”
Adebowale further stressed the need to equip students with not only disciplinary expertise but critical thinking, skills to make them ethically grounded and the ability to apply their knowledge to solving world’s problems and building enduring resilience for the country and the continent.
