The Chemical Society of Nigeria, (CSN) have recently given profuse commendation to the National Assembly for passing the amended Institute of Chartered Chemists of Nigeria, ICCON act into law.
While commending the National Assembly, the Society have also called on President Mohammadu Buhari, to kindly give approval and sign the amended ICCON act into law in order to adequately secure, protect and safe the chemical space in Nigeria.
This was contained in a communique signed by the President of CSN, Professor Sunday Olawale Okeniyi at the end of the Society’s 42nd Annual International Conference and 4th African Conference on Research in Chemistry Education (ACRICE) in Lagos.
The Conference, tagged Eko 2019 with the theme: “Chemistry Education and Sustainable Development” among other recommendations said that Curriculum review in the Nation’s educational space should be regular and industry driven, adding that secondary and tertiary education chemistry curriculum in Nigeria should be reviewed so as to concentrate more on practical knowledge than theory, which will in turn instil entrepreneurial skills and ability on the graduates from these levels of education.
He added that; “Concept and knowledge of chemical security, safety and management should be incorporated in the chemistry educational curriculum to be reviewed in Nigeria in order to facilitate adequate knowledge of chemical management, security and safety amongst the chemical practitioners and stakeholders.”
He further reiterated that “Government should encourage and promote adequate synergy between academia and the industry; so as to facilitate transfer of chemistry research outputs, knowledge and technology from laboratories to industries for appropriate investments.
The Communique also suggested that; Government should deploy adequate funding and infrastructure such as energy and telecommunication (bandwidth) to teaching/learning and research in the Nigerian educational institutions in order to measure up with best practices in a competitive global knowledge economy.
“For Nigeria to aspire to move on to the level of fourth industrial revolution globally, chemistry as a discipline must be driven by appropriately positioning our chemistry education curriculum in line with international best practices.
“Chemistry, as a discipline should be supported as it is pivotal to achieving the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Nigeria on or before year 2030.Training in the chemical sciences should also be given a special and unique status it deserves, considering the specialized nature of the skills chemists are expected to acquire during training.
“Government should re-assess its science education policy to give particular and special attention to chemistry education in view of the importance of chemistry and science knowledge to Nigeria’s dream of industrial revolution.
“Chemical industries based on renewable natural resources are the
weapon to fast track sustainable chemical education in Nigeria and Africa
“Government should motivate chemistry teachers at the Secondary School levels in Nigeria to enhance effective discharge of their academic duties and functions,” the communique stated.
According to them, the concept of “Alternative-to-Practical’ currently embedded in the curriculum and being practiced in the Nigerian educational training institutions should be discouraged and totally outlawed.
