Free access to social media is robbing youths of their future – Oyedepo laments

Bishop David Oyedepo, Chancellor, Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara, on Friday called for urgent steps to check students’ unfettered access to social media.

“We must wake up from our slumber to deal with this monster. It unconsciously robs people of their future by robbing them of their time,” Oyedepo, said at the 7th Convocation of the institution.

He was speaking on: “Combating the challenge of education without integration.”

“This social media saga has eroded the substance of destiny of most youths today. What is supposed to be a plus has suddenly become a major minus.

“This is because everything of value delivers through investment of time.

“Suddenly, we are faced with a generation on the wrong side of history; the honour of this generation has been wiped off,’’ the Founder of Living Faith Church Worldwide, said.

Oyedepo stressed that social media content that did not add value should be restricted.

“They chat all day with no time left to think, plan, programme and engage productively in the pursuit of any task.

“Many youths spend less than 10 to 20 per cent of their time on their tasks per day. They can never match a generation that spends 70 per cent to 80 per cent of their time on their tasks.

“We must device means to put a check on free access to social media particularly those that are not adding values.’’ he insisted.

Oyedepo advised parents of the graduating students to give them free hand to develop themselves to become self-sufficient and self-reliant.

“Give your sons, daughters, or wards the opportunity to develop their wings, and I know that many will soar much higher than their parents,’’ he said.

In a keynote address, Mr Alphonsus Inyang, Group Managing Director of a private company expressed the need for the country to pursue and promote agriculture that is knowledge driven and fully mechanised.

“The reason why we are not making any headway in agriculture in Nigeria unlike in the Netherlands is that agricultural practices and processes there are highly mechanised, technology and knowledge driven.

“Out-dated methods of agriculture such as the use of hoes and cutlasses reduce efficiency and these methods are not only costly, they are time consuming,” he said.

He argued also that agricultural practices of old contributed to health problems later in life.

The university’s vice-chancellor, Prof. Adeniyi Olayanju, said at the occasion the institution “migrated’’ quite a number of its academic activities into online platforms to adapt to the new normal occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In spite of this pandemic situation that foisted lockdown on the world, our faith and stake in driving continuous engagement with students and improvement in our services never changed.

“This was made possible by the huge investment of the proprietors into Information Technology infrastructures and for this we are immeasurably grateful,” he said.

It was reported that 46 of the graduating students bagged First class honours.