24th November, 2015
A don, Prof. Christopher Shisanya, on Tuesday said that a major defect in the Nigerian educational system was its theoretical inclination.
Shisanya, who is the Dean, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Kenyatta University Nairobi, Kenya, spoke in Lagos at at the opening session of the 3-day 10th University of Lagos Research Conference and Fair.
The theme of the conference, which is an international conference of Sciences and Humanities, is “Implementing new Research Strategies for National Transformation’’.
Shisanya, in his keynote address, said that most Nigerian universities produce graduates who are, at best, only suited for white-collar jobs, with little or no basic skills of any other vocational relevance.
He said that such a situation would lead to high unemployment rate, especially among university graduates.
Shisanya said that the contribution of an entrepreneur to any nation’s economy could simply be observed in a situation where the entrepreneur acts as an employer.
“He can also act as innovator as well as risk-bearer that are extensively recognised by the society.
“A major policy aim in fostering entrepreneurship education is, therefore, the general support and training of entrepreneurs.
“However, in view of the positive social and economic effects of entrepreneurship, many Nigerian universities are now advancing entrepreneurial thinking and behaviour to develop students’ awareness of the relevance of entrepreneurial training,’’ he said.
The don also noted that lack of lecturers with practical entrepreneurial training and consciousness was also a contributory factor to the lack of skills in an average Nigerian university graduate.
According to him, the task of drawing course content to be included in the curriculum of the entrepreneurship –related education programme in Nigerian universities will require a long educational process.
Shisanya said that if properly managed in Nigerian universities, entrepreneurship would contribute to the nation’s economic growth and development.
Declaring the conference open, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Rahamon Bello, said that the institution was determined to be a clear leader in research among the nation’s universities.
He said that the Central Research Committee of the University had been working diligently with chairmen of various Faculty Research Committees in formalising new guidelines.
Bello said the guidelines would seek to simplify the application process for the university research grant and funding.
According to him, this year’s research conference and fair of the university received a total of 40 abstracts and full papers for presentation.
He said that the papers and abstract cut across various departments, disciplines and faculties.
Bello said that the management of the university had established a Research and Innovation Office to ensure the institution’s research activities are well coordinated and facilitate access to grants across the globe.
He said that the office had begun to impact positively on the research output in the university.
According to him, the office is to intensify multi-disciplinary research projects and facilitate access to big research grants from international and local sources.
The don said this was an opportunity for further collaboration between town and gown, particularly in the application of research results for the nation’s benefit.
The Chairperson of the Conference Planning Committee, Prof. Olukemi Odukoya, said that participants would be able to exchange information on recent research trends, examine on-going research programmes and promote effective networking.
Odukoya said they would also benefit in the area of coordination and cooperation channels between researchers, government and organisations.
She said the conference would also provide major interdisciplinary forum for presenting new approaches from relevant areas of sciences and humanities, to foster integration of latest developments in scientific research into application.
The don said that it would equally facilitate technology transfer from well-tested ideas into practical products.