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From Aniekan Aniekan, Calabar
Deputy Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, has urged intellectuals with PhD, to turn knowledge into action, saying the true measure of education is not in the academic titles held, but in the impact made by the holders of the doctorate degrees.
Rt. Hon. Kalu made the assertion in remarks on behalf of the PhD graduating class at the 38th Convocation of the University of Calabar.
His words: “A doctoral degree is not merely the highest academic qualification; it is an initiation into responsibility. It signals not only that we have mastered a body of knowledge but that we are now entrusted with its use.
“In Nigeria, the National Bureau of Statistics has estimated that the number of doctoral degree holders is fewer than 100,000 in a country of over 220 million people.
“This places us within a very narrow community, not of privilege alone, but of obligation. The burden of thought, of innovation, and of intellectual leadership rests, in no small measure, on our shoulders.
“We do not merely receive degrees; we inherit a duty to act responsibly, and to contribute meaningfully to the advancement of society.
“Whether in academia, in industry, in public service, or in enterprise, the true measure of our scholarship will not be in citations alone, but in the lives that are improved because we chose to apply what we know.”
Kalu said he considered himself deeply honoured to have been part of the class and to have shared in the demanding, humbling, and transformative journey.
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He also decried the distance between knowledge and impact saying it remains one of the defining challenges of our time.
The Deputy Speaker emphasized that the distance is a call to ensure that what they have produced would not end in archives but find expression in action.
“As someone privileged to serve in governance, I have seen firsthand how the absence or presence of evidence shapes outcomes.
“Policy that is not informed by knowledge is often reactive; policy grounded in research is deliberate, sustainable, and just.
“The future we seek to build as a nation will depend, in large part, on our ability to bridge this gap: to move knowledge from thesis to transformation,” he said.
He added that PhD graduates are now part of a tradition that stretches across generations; a tradition of inquiry, courage, and service saying they must be the bridge between what Nigeria knows, what Nigeria becomes.
As part of the 38th Convocation of the institution, the deputy speaker’s doctoral research titled: Evaluating the Efficacy of Anti-Terrorism Legislation in Nigeria: Human Right Challenges and Lessons for Emerging Democracies” was adjusted the best during an Academic Exhibition by the institution.
Speaking on the research, Dr Saviour Ekpe, a journalist and scholar, said the research represents a significant contribution to contemporary and policy development in the area of counter terrorism and democratic governance as it proffers solutions to Nigeria’s hydra-headed security challenges.
