Dr. Godwin Maduka has cleared air on building 21 varsities across the 21 LGAs of Anambra State – a statement which haters of growth have said is impossible, not necessary and have used for various propagandas.
In a recent interview, Dr. Maduka while making reference to Dr Tunji Braithwaite popular movement of Ikoyi residents to Mushin and vice veras, said his idea of educational revolution in Anambra State is out of pure wisdom and love for Ndi Anambra.
He said that –
“The fourth estate of the realm is very vital in the development of every modern society. They act as a check on the excesses of those in power, mirror issues in the society and help start a conversation on them. However, sometimes, the quest to sell overshadows their dedication to proper journalistic tenets. Sensationalism takes over qualitative and investigative reporting.
“There are what lawyers call literal interpretation and liberal or purposive interpretation. The purposive interpretation tends to look at the intent of the statement or the purpose the statement is meant to achieve, not the literal meaning, and in this case, the intent of my statement is basically my passion and belief in education as the easiest and best means of human capacity development. Actually, people understood what I said literally, hence the sensation and not in the purposive sense of the fact that I want to prioritize education. If you recall, when Dr Tunji Braithwaite was running for presidential election, he would always say that he wanted to relocate the residents of Ikoyi to Mushin and Mushin residents to Ikoyi. People got mad, but then, people understood the literal meaning of the statement rather than the liberal or purposive explanation. He was simply implying that if the rich could have a feeling of the conditions of the poor; it will go a long way in the commitment to bridging the gap between them. There are certain truths and possibilities people find outrageous or may not seem to understand very well, yet at the end it becomes the reality.
“For emphasis, my idea of educational revolution in Anambra State comes from a keen study I did in the US. I found out that in America, Educational communities drive the economic bases. I took a trip to the Silicon Valley and I discovered how Stanford University is the brain power behind most tech start-ups. I started developing a similar idea which I can localize in my home state. I realize that if we can have educational communities around our economic bases, it will blow up the Anambra economy and double up our GDP in a short while. For example, an educational community with engineering courses as its main focus located around the Nnewi axis will contribute so much to research and development in automobiles and manufacturing. Imagine the deepening of local content and backward integration it will trigger, together with the attendant wealth and job creation. If you have an educational community around Awka, it will stimulate ICT and Technological start-ups. Likewise in the Agricultural bases of Ayamelum, Anambra east and west, an educational community will do a lot in the research of hybrids products and also develop models geared towards Agric-economics and agro processing which is a billion dollar industry. So in a nutshell, I was trying to talk about 21 specialized university campuses. We must revolutionize education to make it useful and that is what we want to do in other sectors.
“My idea is that I want Anambra to be the educational hub of sub-Saharan Africa. Las Vegas where I live has about 10 universities. I am a man of big dreams and ideas. I did same in Umuchukwu, a village that was on the lowest rung of development and I built a city out of it. I am a product of possibilities. I went to America from the village and excelled beyond measures, and built six world class hospitals in the state of Nevada. I represent hope and inspire people to dream. With my story, it is obvious that regardless of your background, your dreams are valid.
