Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, represented by a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof Sadiq Radda, said at the opening ceremony of the 13th Regional Conference of Higher Education Research and Policy Network organised in collaboration with the Nigerian Institute of Social And Economic Research in Ibadan corruption had affected the country greatly.
The theme was “Managing Corruption in African Higher Education Systems.”
He urged Nigerians to accept the fact that fighting corruption in institutions rests on everyone.
Osinbajo added, “Many times, we pass the buck. We blame government for the underfunding of higher institutions, and the students for not being diligent enough.
“We blame parents for the rot in our higher institutions while we ignore the fact that, as lecturers and administrators, we contribute to the state of education in our country.
“Corruption starts with basic things such as not doing the right thing at the right time to condoning unethical and criminal behaviour within our institutions. Worst still, when we allow such to become the order of the day.
“If we must address the issue of corruption and find an enduring solution to it, we ought to pay particular attention to basic things such as the admission process, our commitment to the students’ wellbeing; how we adhere to lecture timetables, examine scripts marked and when results are released, when students get their certificates after graduation.”
Director-General, NISER, Dr Folarin Gbadebo-Smith, who declared the conference open, said he was persuaded by the conference’s theme and his passion to ensure the development of research and the educational sector of the country and the continent at large to host the event.
The DG urged the participants to come up with workable solutions that would help address the issue of corruption in the tertiary institutions.
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