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From Judex Okoro, Calabar
Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe (PDP – Cross River North) has stated that ethnicity, politics and education are a triple edged sword militating against national development.
Speaking at the University of Calabar inaugural Registry Day and Lecture of the institution held on Monday, Jarigbe maintained that the way they are deployed can make or mar the development of any society.
Sen Jarigbe, who was the guest lecturer spoke on the theme: “Ethnicity, Education and Politics: A Triple SWOT Analysis and the National Question.”
He contended that ethnicity, education and politics are a triple-edged sword, with both positive and negative effects depending on how they are used in the process of nation building and development.
The senator said: “These three key issues are creations of man and have served useful purposes for various societies around the world. Through them, the fortunes of many individuals and societies have been reshaped irreversibly
“All men and women who transformed their societies through exceptional leadership were men of unusual intelligence and ability who did not allow their ethnic origins to becloud their sense of judgment in services to their nation.
“On the other hand, ethnicity education and politics can destroy a nation if they are deploued to bad use as we have seen many African countries, including Nigeria.
“And as Nigerians, we all need to be challenged by the incredible levels of social and economic development and political stability that many other nations including those with a more diverse ethnic and religious pluralism have achieved.”
He wondered why Nigeria should continue to fail despite its enormous and human resources when other plural countries have been able to mange or contain various enteifugal forces.
He is of the opinion that those “things something people see as barriers and threats, especially ethnicity and politics, can actually become great asset, bridges and opportunities for greatness if Nigerians cansacrificw self-interest for the sake of common good of all irrespective of tribe, religion, linguistic and gender divide.”
In her opening remarks, the Vice Chancellor of the insinuation, Prof Florence Obi, challenged the staff of the registry unit to leave up the expectations and task themselves on how to deliver quality service the academic community.
The VC called on the registry department to overall the state and assigned respobilities to numerous people employed in the system rather than dissipating energy on issues that could bring Division between academic and non-academic staff.
Earlier, the registrar of the institution Gabriel Egbe, fcai, said the day is meant to reflect on their relevance, competence, abilities, opportunities as well as challenges which are hallmarks of good administration.
