Former governor of Cross River State, Mr Donald Duke, and ex-Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, have said the country was not making progress as expected because education has been relegated to the back seat in the scheme of things.

The duo also opined that concerted efforts were not being made in the country to retain best brains who could contribute to the nation's greatness.

They spoke at the public presentation of Prof. Steve Okecha's latest book, titled, "The Nigerian University System: Downswings and way forward", in Lagos weekend.

The author is a retired emeritus professor of Chemistry and university administrator.

Duke, who was chairman of the occasion, said since education took a backseat, the nation had failed to advance among the nations of the world.

"We are the cause, we the political class have been contemptible of education. The elite would rather send their children to school abroad, hence we have neglected our own education.

"Once you send a young child abroad, he is lost as far as culture is concerned. Such a child would not get to know his culture and would also not be assimilated to the culture of his new country.

"Such a situation would mean that child may not fit in here or there. Even when they come back to Nigeria, they don't fit in. If I have my way, you can't leave this country until you are at least 18 years old, or even after your first degree," he said.

On his part, Gana, who was the keynote speaker, said Nigeria needed to encourage and retain best brains in the university system and invest in top quality human resources for it to move forward in all facets of life.

He noted that to achieve and sustain academic excellence, first class brains should be encouraged to remain in the nation's challenged university system.

While commending the author for his robust intellect, Gana said most successful universities in the world invest in faculty development which he described as the corner stone of academic excellence and development.