Politics: Prof. Nyekachi Amadi Makes Case For Academics, Tasks ASUU To Champion Cause

Academic Staff Union of Universities across Nigeria has been called upon to fight against tactical and impish exclusion of all academics and other professionals especially in service from occupying executive and substantive positions through the Nigerian Constitution.

Professor Nyekachi Nyewe Amadi made the call while delivering the 62nd inaugural lecture of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education IAUE Rumuolumeni Port-Harcourt Rivers State Nigeria on the topic “Tottered Economy and War of Survival: Predators and Preys, who are the Losers”? on Thursday February 27, 2025 at the university auditorium.

The Professor of Development Economics, frowned at the situation where the Academic staff and Professionals are made to resign their jobs before contesting elections making them forcefully and slavishly playing second fiddle in the society. This situation he pointed out has confirmed the assertion by Plato that “if the noble or virtuous individuals abandon politics, the less virtuous or mediocre will take control or govern, enacting laws that are detrimental to the noble”. He argued that the case of Nigeria is not that the Academic staff and Professionals abandone politics but that the mediocre use law to force them to abandon politics because they cannot compete with them.

Apart from excluding them from contesting for political positions through the law, they deliberately infest the political ecology with sophisticated weapons which they use to threaten and scare the courageous few academic staff who resign to contest elective positions according to the 62nd inaugural lecturer. He remarked that under this strange terrain, academics who resign to contest cannot survive as they will not only team up to ensure that they lose their jobs, but also ensure that they lose the election. This he stressed serves as a deterrent to other nobles. He opined that if educated and righteous nobles governs, inferiority complex leadership that is darwinistic or full strive will cease. According to the Dean of Social Sciences, Nigeria is blessed with huge and enviable human and Natural resources spread all over her territory, yet with the abundant wealth and resource endowment, an estimated 87 million Nigerian citizens still live in penury, striving to survive the hard conditions of below poverty line with the country becoming indisputably the poverty capital of the world as evidenced from its current socioeconomic, political, technolocal and educational backwardness.

He explained that weak job creation and entrepreneurial prospects has stiffled the absorption of over 3.5 million Nigerians entering into the labour force, making many able bodied workers to emigrate in search of better opportunities thereby increasing the incidence of brain drain in the country. The Professor of Development Economics hinted that the country is noted for poor access to education, health, limited service delivery, endemic insecurity, widespread violence with low State capacity. The infrastructure gap constrains access to electricity and hinder the domestic economic integration that would allow the country to leverage on its large market size which is aggravated by trade protectionism.

The 62nd inaugural lecturer who declared that the Nigerian economy lagged behind in terms of global competiveness attributed the cause to systemic corruption that has eaten deep into the fabrics of the citizens. He disclosed that the debt profile of the country keep soaring with the increased foreign debts that contributes nothing to economic growth leading to high rate of inflation, income inequality, low investment, increased commodity prices, unemployment, poverty, hunger, starvation, malnutrition, poor health conditions, poor access to education, and increased economic misery, poor access to credits due to rising costs of capital, high import bills, government failure due to corruption, lack of transparency, accountability and role of law etc. These economic outlooks according to the Dean of Social Sciences suggest that of a tottered economy, that is an economy that presents harsh economic conditions and deteriorates day by day with its adverse effects on the living conditions of the people. A tottered economy for him, manifests indicators of underdevelopment.

He stated that in an environment of war between the predators (leaders) and the preys (led), the cost implications is huge and difficult to measure on monetary terms. The human and material resources of the country suffer for while the predators suffer from what he termed “Retrogressive Income Effects, a condition or situation where the predators (leaders) amass wealth while in position of trust and become miserable later in life because the ill-gotten wealth is recklessly spent on personal security due to the dear of being kidnapped by the preys, payment of ransom in hard currencies to secure the release of oneself and family members kidnapped, huge hospital bills abroad due to poor or ill-equipped health facilities and services in Nigeria and payment of huge education bills abroad for children because public educational institutions lack the basic facilities, the prey on the other hand, suffer from loss of lives, the disability that results from the injuries of violence, illegal activities occasioned by tottered economy.

While blaming academic staff and Professionals for creating the tottered economy through rigging in insane leaders that can only survive in building wealth by destroying all the vital institutions, he recommended de-orientarion, and re-orientation from mental slavery and to seize the electoral opportunity to enthrone right leaders. He also suggested human capacity building that can withstand economic shocks, energy, health, food crisis and security and to tailor the capacity building towards the “Chinese Craft-Oriented Model of Education where promotion of practical problem solving researches such as applied, action and evaluation researches will be emphasized instead of basic research hitherto practiced.

In his speech, the Acting Vice Chancellor of IAUE Professor Okechuku Onuchuku who was represented by the Director Academic Planning Professor Joseph Kinanee and the Registrar Dr Chinonye Abraham Ajie commended the inaugural lecturer for doing justice to the topic inspite of challenges and hoped that the recommendations made would be adhered to by policy and decision makers for a better Nigeria. In a vote of thanks, Professor Ekaete Indogesit Ekpo appreciated everyone who inspite of their busy schedule found time to grace the occasion.