Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu has urged the University of Lincoln in the United Kingdom (UK) to initiate a student exchange programme with their counterparts in Nigeria to boost education and skills in the country.
Kalu made the call when he received the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University, Mr Simon Parkes and his team in his office on a courtesy visit.
Led by Dr. Wisdom John Okoye of Eminent Transglobal Services Ltd, the delegation was in the national assembly to seek partnership with the House on ways of improving agriculture and security in Nigeria.
Kalu said that the issues were well captured in the Renewed Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Legislative Agenda of the House.
He said: “Based on your letter I just glanced through, what are the challenges of Nigerians, especially the area of agriculture and also security?
“Well captured by Mr. President in his renewed hope agenda where almost all the things you mentioned here are captured which are what we tied our legislative agenda to because though we are three arms of government, we are one government. The national objective of the executive remains the objective of the legislature because we need to, through legislative interventions, give will for them to drive those objectives to the level of social economic impact on our citizens. So, yes, checks and balances, yes, doctrine of separation of power but yet, one government, one national objective.
“So, we are encouraged that if we can have an exchange program between your university and the Nigerian universities, I’m happy you have a representative here in Nigeria. It will help us, that interaction, that engagement will help us learn more from what you have mastered already in your own space.
“We are also promising that we’re going to link you with the relevant committees of the House so that we can partner better, create better platforms to be able to engage on some of these areas of your interest. You can count on us. The parliament is looking for people like you who you have a lot to offer to bring value to our country. And if there are, there is a way to structure it for better impact. We are willing to hold your hand of partnership once again.
“Are there still gaps in education? Yes. And that includes improving infrastructures and learning infrastructures and also quality of teachers and what they used to teach.
“So we need to foster digital learning and technical education in Nigerian education systems. Most people are going for certificates but the technical aspect of it is not really there. And to drive this economy, we need to produce more. And to produce more, we need more technically trained, skilled certificate holders.
“So, that is the area when it comes to education we know through strategic partnership with your university, I’m sure we’ll be able to cross some of the hurdles to make sure that we are better equipped.
Kalu also said that the government has prioritized good governance and the rule of law to boost foreign investments.
“We are improving governance for effective service delivery. And I’m sure the university is interested in good governance because, in the absence of good governance, the fundamentals of democracy, which include rule of law, justice, fairness, equity, human rights, will be pushed down. And if you push the principles, the ethos of democracy down, the outer atmosphere cannot prosper economically because investors will not be interested to come because human rights indicators, they are high”, he said.
