Prof. Charles Igwe, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), has expressed concern about Nigeria’s failure to address critical challenges including security, poverty, illiteracy, and the high number of out-of-school children, despite having a considerable number of professionals within the country and abroad.
Calling for collaboration between academia and industry leaders, the Vice Chancellor emphasized the necessity of finding lasting solutions to these issues that hinder the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Nigeria. He made this appeal during his speech at the 3rd international conference organized by the Faculty of Engineering at UNN, themed ‘Sustainable Engineering and Industrial Technology.’
During the conference, Prof. Igwe pointed out that the event aimed to bridge the gap between academia and industry in Nigeria, allowing them to combine their strengths to address societal challenges. He noted that Nigeria boasts a significant pool of skilled professionals, comparable to China and India, in the Diaspora.
However,he said that the potential hasn’t translated into substantial economic development, as the country continues to struggle in various indicators of sustainable development such as hunger, poverty, illiteracy, power generation, and unemployment.
In his welcome address, Prof. Emenike Ejiogu, the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at UNN, explained that the international conference was a response to the growing need to bring together scholars from around the world to discuss topics related to human development and sustainability.
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