Abuja – Mr Adindu Onukwe, an author on Thursday, urged the Federal Government to invest more in education to reduce poverty and enhance the nation’s economic growth.
Onukwe, who currently resides and works in Europe, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
He said that in any society, education was the key to poverty reduction.
According to him, the crucial role education plays in the overall development of a nation cannot be overemphasised.
“I will say that education is the key to poverty reduction and vehicle for promoting equity, fairness and social justice but it enhances development.
“Education also helps to supply the essential capital which is a necessary condition to sustained economic growth.
“Education as a key component of human capital formation is recognised as being vital in increasing the productive capacity of people.
“Education, especially at the higher level, contributes directly to economic growth by making individual workers more productive and indirectly by leading to the creation of knowledge, ideas and technological innovation,’’ he said.
The author said that an effective inspection of various schools would improve quality education.
He said that employers of labour often complained about low performance of graduates from the nation’s institutions of higher learning.
He urged the government to provide enabling facilities in relations to education and called for increase in the number of libraries as well as the quality books in such libraries.
Onukwe, however, advised youths to cultivate the habit of reading, adding that knowledge could not be acquired without imbibing the reading habit.
“In every moment you read, you are improving your knowledge; knowledge can never end. The habit of reading should be cultivated and no knowledge is a waste.
“It may be difficult, it may be hard but you have to show commitment, you must commit yourself to reading.
“Nobody can query you for reading, rather it will help you move forward, never get tired of reading, it is part of life,’’ he said. (NAN)