A Professor of Entrepreneurship Studies, Obiora Okonkwo, has challenged tertiary institutions across Nigeria to refocus their academic curricula on practical skills development and enterprise creation. Speaking during the 15th convocation ceremony of Veritas University, Abuja, Okonkwo stressed that the higher education sector must transition from merely awarding degree certificates to fostering genuine self-reliance among students.
What specific changes did Okonkwo propose for academic curricula?
Okonkwo advocated for the integration of entrepreneurship training across every discipline, covering traditional fields such as medicine, law, engineering, and the pure sciences. According to him, entrepreneurship should function as a mandatory core course rather than an elective or peripheral subject. He noted that medical students should learn how to manage private medical practices, while law students ought to recognize the commercial and business aspects of the legal profession. Furthermore, he encouraged academic researchers to evaluate the market viability of their innovations to help universities commercialize scientific discoveries.
"The entrepreneurship I am advocating should not just be a by-pass discipline. It should be a core subject that must be made available to all the students in every department," Okonkwo stated. Drawing from his personal background as a scholar who built businesses while pursuing higher education, he noted that quality education should be measured by the practical values and competencies imparted rather than the mere volume of graduates released into the job market each year.
How can universities bridge the gap between academia and industry?
Beyond classroom instruction, Okonkwo emphasized the necessity of robust partnerships between universities and the private sector. He highlighted structured internship programs as vital mechanisms for exposing students to real-world workplace environments before graduation. He also revealed that policy frameworks inspired by his previous convocation lectures have already been adopted in other institutions, complete with dedicated committees established to oversee implementation.
Concluding his address, the entrepreneurship professor congratulated the newly minted graduates and encouraged them to apply their acquired knowledge and moral training toward achieving professional success and contributing positively to the broader Nigerian society.