Professors and academics must take a keen interest, especially in issues of education and healthcare, exploring options for reform and innovation in those Human Capital Development sectors.
This was the highlight of a virtual meeting between Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, and a team of professors drawn from the six geo-political zones under the auspices of the Progressive Intellectuals Advisory Group (PIAG)
The Vice President who interacted with the dons on a number of topical national development issues urged stakeholders especially members of professional bodies to make contributions towards addressing them.
On access to tertiary education, Vice President Osinbajo said given the rate of interest in tertiary education, the nation cannot cope with the brick-and-mortar approach, and won’t be able to cope with the numbers in the near future because there would be millions more who would not be able to get into schools.
The Vice President wants the academic to consider developing online tertiary education, to the point where Nigeria offers the best services in the sector.
Also in healthcare, the Vice President called on members of the group to support the Federal Government’s efforts to reform the healthcare system by contributing to ideas that will make health insurance work effectively in the country. He mentioned that a Health Reform Committee is already in place looking at the issues.
Leader of the group and Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, National Open University of Nigeria, Prof. Shehu Adamu also spoke about the need for Nigeria to strengthen the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) option to address the issue of access to university education.