Oyelaran-Oyeyinka added that Nigeria’s once-thriving universities and research institutions have deteriorated, resulting in a knowledge collapse and widespread brain drain that threatens the country’s future.
In a statement personally signed—a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent on Friday—Oyelaran-Oyeyinka spoke at the anniversary of the Department of Chemical Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.
He said institutions like OAU, once a beacon of academic excellence and innovation in Africa, now reflect a national tragedy, with dilapidated laboratories, underfunded departments, and limited capacity to retain top talent.
According to him, engineers trained with public resources now serve as assets to foreign economies, while Nigeria’s own industries remain underdeveloped and directionless.
“On the collapse of knowledge and the great brain drain, there is a slow degradation of Nigeria’s once-thriving universities and research institutions.
“UNIFE was once a magnet for the continent’s brightest minds. Today, it mirrors a national tragedy, dilapidated labs, underfunded departments, and a mass exodus of talent.
“Thousands of engineers trained at public expense are now scattered across the globe, serving foreign economies while Nigeria’s own industries remain rudderless.”
He described the phenomenon as one of the most damaging consequences of Nigeria’s neglect of education, research, and industrial policy.
Oyelaran-Oyeyinka warned that without urgent intervention to rebuild universities, modernise research systems, and align knowledge production with national development goals, Nigeria will continue to lose its most valuable resource.
He said the country’s knowledge infrastructure is poorly funded, disorganised, and disconnected from the needs of industry, unlike in Asian countries that have used science and technology as the foundation for industrial transformation.
He described the situation as a “real resource curse,” where the absence of institutionalised knowledge and innovation is more dangerous than the overreliance on raw material exports.
“We must not be the generation that watched our nation crumble. We must be the generation that stood up and said, Let us rebuild the wall,” he added.
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