A Professor of Human Resources Management and Strategic Planning, Faculty of Education, Abia State University, *Osita Nwosu, Ph.D*, has disclosed that for Nigeria to achieve envisaged National goals and aspirations, she needs an ethically sound and rejuvenated Educational System, even as teachers groomed in the nuances of ethical principles could provide the solid foundation for the anticipated 21st Century global renaissance.
Professor Osita Nwosu, who stated this, while delivering the 35th Inaugural Lecture of the University on the topic: *Ethics and the Teaching Profession: Correlation Matrix and Critical Challenges for the Educational Administrator in the 21st Century*, commended Management of Abia State University, ably led by the Vice-Chancellor, *Distinguished Professor E. Uche Ikonne*, for blazing the trail in the comity of Universities in Nigeria, with documented Code of Ethics, Streamlining approved Conduct for Staff and Students in the University.
According to the Lecturer, history continuously aver that blatant immorality and non-compliance with ethical standards had been the core malaise of societies and the decay of civilizations, including our Educational system.
However, he contended that the blending of knowledge with ethics will provide the panacea for our Educational challenges and Consequently placing the teacher on an advantageous moral high point. “From this moral high point the teacher is adequately groomed to produce citizens who could be found worthy in Character and Learning”.
Professor Nwosu disclosed that although it could be difficult to weave every teacher into a moral fabric, the challenge therefore is for each teacher to evaluate himself on the following benchmarks:
🔸 Am I genuinely challenged by and committed to the Teaching Profession?
🔸 Am I towing the path of moral rectitude in order to serve as a role model for the youth?
🔸 Am I ethically sound so as to ensure that my activities in and out of the classroom provide a beacon of light in our dark and blighted society?
🔸 Do I posses and exhibit exemplary standards of Moral probity and strive for Academic and Professional Excellence?
According to him, “Ethics is concerned with the system of moral principles and the rules of conduct that guide and circumscribe the behavioural patterns of people in the human society. It also deals with the concept of right and wrong, emphasizing probity, accountability, integrity and discipline as parameters of behaviour.
The Lecturer stated that the teacher imbued with Professional ethics should strive to train and mentor and not just teach, arguing that as purveyors of knowledge, moral barometers of the society and unapologetic mentors, the Teacher should create the conducive environment for societal growth and development.
According to him, to sanitize our Tertiary Institutions, high moral and professional standards must be established and maintained.
He highlighted the four pillars of Education to include:
🔸 Learning to Know (knowledge acquisition)
🔸 Learning to do (Skill acquisition)
🔸 Learning to live together (Adaptation)
🔸 Learning to be (Learning for survival).
In conclusion, Professor Nwosu stated that “Education is not just the imbibing of knowledge or the acquisition of technical skills and professional competence but the totality of experiences to live effectively and efficiently in the human society. For the Educational Institutions to play the laudable roles they are mandated to play, ethical principles must constitute the core of all their activities”.
He described the Vice-Chancellor, *Distinguished Professor E. Uche Ikonne as an Academic colossus and Leader with tremendous Goodwill. “With your “Change Agenda”, you have excelled using your distinctive identity of uncompromising fidelity, unimpeachable integrity and brutal frankness. Thanks immensely for creating the enabling environment for people to develop their various and variegated potentials and endowments. Our amiable Vice-Chancellor, the sky is reachable, as history beckons on you to make indelible footprints on the sounds of time”.*
In appreciation, the Vice-Chancellor and Chairman, *Distinguished Professor E. Uche Ikonne*, appreciated the Lecturer and welcomed him into the prestigious *”College of Distinguished Professors”*.
Please:
Keep safe
Play safe.
E.U.I- Good Leader, Great Achievements.
