..says at IUO we produce complete graduates for the future
… underemployment is alien to us
Vice Chancellor of the Igbinedion University Okada, IUO, Professor Lawrence Ikechukwu Ezemonye has said the university was the creation of one man, the Esama of Benin Kingdom, Gabriel Igbinedion which has transformed into a global treasure.
Ezemonye, a two-time Deputy Vice Chancellor of University of Benin is a Professor of Ecotoxicology and Environmental Forensics in a chat with seasoned journalists across Nigeria after an entrepreneurship exhibition/a facility tour of different rare departments, laid it bare that “in 23 years IUO blazed the trail becoming an international hub for the academia.
“The credit goes to one man who pioneered it in Nigeria by going into a social contract where many entrepreneurs refused to venture into in 1999 via the establishment of a private university.
“That man is the Esama of Benin Kingdom, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion who held the bull by the horns and this singular action today has transformed into a global treasure where people tap into on a daily basis.
On why IUO places so much premium on entrepreneurial skills, Ezemonye said:
“First of all I had my worries with the proclamations from industries, when they tell us that the graduates are not fit for purpose in the industries and you see, it worries me so much and I began to wonder what is responsible for that.
With a few group of intellectuals, we found out that, not that our students are not properly groomed but that there is disconnect between the demand of the industry and the products, the output.
“It is not an affront to anybody, it is not even at a disadvantage to the university, it is just that there is no merger. You see, the Nigerian educational system and the industry portfolios were working in silos.
“The industry does not want to merge with the university and the university as an ivory tower does not have the time for the industry but all that have changed now.
“So that is why we felt that we must make students that are future ready and that is the mantra I brought into this university, the future readiness. How can a student be future ready?
“A student that is future ready is free from three things; one, unemployment, two, under-employment and three, unemployability and for you to avert those three syndromes you must be entrepreneurially groomed.
“So here in this university, the first thing we do is to inspire and stimulate entrepreneurial thinking amongst our students, that is number one.
“The second thing we do, is to provide the knowledge base and knowledge exchange for the transaction of entrepreneurial thinking amongst students.
“And the third one is the one you witnessed today, which is the actual exhibition of the products of the inspiration, the stimulation of entrepreneurial thinking among our students.
“Let me tell you what we have done here in Igbinedion University. You see, I have been working in the last 10years on industry-academia integration and so in Igbinedion University, what we have done is to imbibe the principle of co-development of programmes with the industry, co-design the programme with the industry, we co-deliver the programme with the industry, co-supervise the programme with the industry and co-graduate the programme with the industry. And the success stories have been recorded.
“If an industry, in my university, all post graduates programmes are supervised by an academic and an industry supervisor, here in this university, so but it is logical.
“If an industry expert and an academia designs a programme together, delivers teachers, the programme together, supervise the programme together, in some cases co-fund the programme together and graduate the students together, there is no moral basis to say that that graduate is not fit for the industry, that is number one.
“Let me also tell you what we have done in this university and you need to take this away. This university has a board of industry-academia interface headed currently by the DG of NOTA (National Office for Technology Association) and we have industry partners and academia in that board and they meet quarterly and what do they do, they review curriculum and industry demands.
“Today we have a project with Cortis PLC, we are co-designing dedicated programmes for RENA in our engineering department and they are providing opportunities for students and staff both for sabbatical and internship.
“So that is the partnership that we have established in this university that our mainstream academia-industry interface as a way of life in our university programme.
“So to answer your question, if you get the industry together to participate with you, tear down the silo walls and remove the toga of ivory towerism then we won’t have this problem.
“I can tell you for free now that before now I used to advocate that unemployability was the main cause, was worse than unemployment, yes. You know you graduate and they tell you that you are not fit for purpose.
“You know the worse one now, the worse syndrome that is now operating in the valley of death is underemployment, when a graduate now earns N20,000 N30,000, that one is dehumanizing.
So one singular way in averting them is through entrepreneurship, employ yourself.