Crescent varsity scholar pioneers inaugural lecture
By IDRIS KATIB
The Proprietor and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Prince Ma’ruf Adesegun Ajibola (SAN), expressed appreciation to the maiden inaugural lecturer, noting that the university had grown in leaps and bounds.
A professor of Resource and Development Economics, Prof. Rasaki Olufemi Kareem, has pioneered the inaugural lecture of the prestigious Crescent University, Abeokuta.
He delivered the Inaugural Lecture 01 in the midst of a resounding audience applause at the Bola Ajibola Auditorium of the university.
In his lecture tagged “Resource Efficiency Vs Economic Development: Whither Nigeria?”, Prof. Kareem was able to give account of his academic trajectory through the ranks to the professional cadre.
He wondered in his 62-page lecture that, “Nigeria is blessed with both human and natural resources. Despite all the resources, where do we stand or where does that leave us? ”
He asked rhetorically, “why are we where we are today despite endowments of huge natural resources” as “Nigeria is endowed with 30.2 million hectares of arable land, 12 million hectares of fresh water resources covering 960 kilometers of coastal land with significant ecological diversity, which enables the country to produce a variety of crops and livestock, forestry and fisheries products”.
Prof. Kareem unveiled that all States of Nigeria are blessed with natural resources like gold, lead/zinc, limestone, oil/gas, marble, salt, uranium, gypsium, Kaolin, bitumen, iron-ore, phosphate, lignite and many others.
He concluded that since the resources of the country do not belong to individuals, the state must judiciously use same in the interest of the generality of the citizens and stressed that “leaders must be held accountable for the resources of the people while Nigeria’s economic development trajectory will only depend on its commitment to sustainable resource management”.
The Proprietor and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Prince Ma’ruf Adesegun Ajibola (SAN), expressed appreciation to the maiden inaugural lecturer, noting that the university had grown in leaps and bounds.
Earlier, while introducing the inaugural lecturer, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ibraheem Gbajabiamila chronicled the inaugural lecturer’s numerous contributions to academic and moral excellence of Crescent University, noting that “the fear of Kareem is the beginning of wisdom”.
