RETHINKING EDUCATION, PEACE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

A DISCUSSION OF THE KEYNOTE ADDRESS, “EDUCATION, PEACE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA” DELIVERED BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF STATE FOR EDUCATION, PROF. ANTHONY GOZIE ANWUKAH, AT THE ILORIN ROUNDTABLE ORGANISED BY THE FACULTY OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN ON FRIDAY, JULY 13, 2018 AT THE UNIVERSITY AUDITORIUM

Dr Mahfouz A. Adedimeji, fspsp

Protocols

Preamble

Kindly permit me to begin by acknowledging the Honourable Minister for opening our eyes to the tripartite, interdependent and symbiotic concepts of education, peace and (sustainable) development. Without doubt, as the Guest Speaker eloquently submitted, these variables are crucial and critical to the survival of not only Nigeria and Africa but also the entire humanity.

I think it is thoughtful and laudable on the part of the Faculty of Education to have directed our attention to these three things that matter and I make haste to commend the Faculty, under the Deanship of Prof. Noah Oyedeji. I also appreciate the honour of being invited to contribute to the discourse.

The Issues

Meanwhile, I want to specially note that as it is done in many keynote addresses, our Guest Speaker has laid the issues (education, peace and sustainable development) bare before us and expects us to apply the concepts highlighted to our situation. By this, he appears to me to be suggesting that rather than give us pittances of fish, he would rather show us how to fish as he opted not to dwell much on the situation of Nigeria. This approach is in sync with the submission of Sydney J. Harris that “the whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows”. Now we can see the reflection of our country in the window of ideas masterfully dissected.

The Chairman, Sir, it is clear to the blind and audible to the deaf that Nigeria today is heavily challenged. When the challenges that confront us and the problems that tantalise us are atomised, at the root of them all is education deficit. I especially find the emphasis of the Minister on balanced education instructive and refreshing because many of those who are educated today are not properly educated. The same way that a child that is not fed on balanced diet may suffer from kwashiorkor, many Nigerians who do not receive balanced education suffer from intellectual kwashiorkor.

About the Author

Aptly described by the Independent newspaper as “a man of many parts”, Prof. Mahfouz A. Adedimeji is a Fulbright scholar, interdisciplinary researcher, university don, public affairs analyst, communication consultant, peace advocate, interfaith worker and public intellectual. He obtained his academic degrees from the University of Ilorin, Ilorin, where he was a Professor of English (Pragmatics and Applied Linguistics) before his appointment as Vice Chancellor as the pioneer Vice Chancellor of Ahman Patigi, Nigeria, in February 2021. He started his academic career in 2000 at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, shortly after which he joined the services of his alma mater, the University of Ilorin. A man of eclectic academic background, Prof. Adedimeji was educated in Arabic and Islamic Studies at Markaz Shabaabil Islam, Iwo, Osun State and Markaz Ta’aleemil Araby, Agege, Lagos. He obtained advanced training in Education, Political Science, Communication and Media, Research and Peace Studies at the National Universities Commission’s (NUC) Virtual Institute for Higher Education Pedagogy (VIHEP); the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) Virtual Institute for Higher Education in Africa (VIHEAF); Governors State University, University Park, Illinois, USA; University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana; and Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, Notre Dame University, South Bend, Indiana, USA. Apart from serving as a cultural ambassador to the US under the auspices of the Institute of International Education (IIE), New York, Prof. Adedimeji had won or co-won the research and conference awards/grants of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) of the National Research Council, Nigeria, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) and the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU). He has written extensively for a wide range of newspapers and periodicals including “Unilorin Bulletin”, “Unilorin Watch”, “DeLight”, “National Pilot”, “Daily Independent”, “Daily Newswatch”, “New York Parrot” and “New Telegraph”, among others. A versatile academic and award-winning scholar, Prof. Adedimeji has attended academic conferences and undertaken research in several universities across Nigeria as well as in Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, Malaysia, Sierra Leone, Australia, France and United States of America, among others. His hundreds of academic, Islamic and general/opinion articles have been published across outlets in Nigeria and beyond. He has also facilitated and participated in seminars and workshops both nationally and internationally. A former Head of the Directorate of Corporate Affairs of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Adedimeji was the Director of the Centre for Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ilorin, between 2013 and 2017. Apart from serving as Rapporteur-General to the Presidential Committee that organised the 2017 Federal Executive Council’s Retreat on Education in Nigeria, he has consulted for the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Nigeria Inter-religious Council (NIREC), the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence and Corps (NSCDC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). For years, he was a Coordinator and Facilitator of the Executive Management Course of the Nigerian Army Education Corps (NAEC) and Editor-in-Chief of the “Journal of Peace, Security and Development”, University of Ilorin. He has also served as a resource person to agencies like the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), National Orientation Agency (NOA), National Institute for Security Studies as well as a number of Civil Society Organisations. He is a recipient of several awards and honours including those of the International Chartered World Learned Society, American Biographical Institute, National Congress of Nigerian Students (NACONS), Union of Campus Journalists, University of Ilorin, the Nigerian Army Education Corps, Postgraduate Students Association, UNILORIN, Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN), UNILORIN, Students’ Union, UNILORIN, and National Association of Osun State Students (NAOSS), just to mention a few. A Fellow of bodies like the International Association of Research Scholars and Administrators (FIARSA), Institute of Corporate Administration, Nigeria, (FICAN), Society for Peace Studies and Practice (fspsp) and World Institute for Peace (FWIP) , Prof. Adedimeji is a former Member of the Governing Council of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA) and until recently a Member of the Executive Council of the English Scholars’ Association of Nigeria (ESAN). He is a member of the Editorial Boards of Research in Pragmatics, journal of the Pragmatics Association of Nigeria (PrAN) and ANUJAT, an international multidisciplinary journal of the All Nations University, Koforidua, Ghana. He has about 15 books to his credit as author, co-author, editor and co-editor.