Accordingly, they called on the government to consider opening entrepreneurial universities that would massively train people in various entrepreneurial fields rather than the conventional ones.
They include the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Academic Staff Union of Universities, National Parents Teachers Association, academics, National Association of Nigerian Students and other some members of the society He said, “Many employers, over the years, have complained about the unemployable nature of Nigerian graduates, due to lack of requisite skills needed to excel in the labour market.
“So, instead of the proliferation of universities with generalised training focus, what we need are few specialised universities with focused practical training that will adequately equip graduates for the challenges they may encounter in the labour market,” he added. “At the level we are now in Nigeria, we don’t need those multiple universities. What we need is to equip schools with facilities. If you are talking about higher education we need technical institutions like polytechnics and Colleges of Education.”
“Similarly, most graduates from here can start life with various start-ups that would only employ themselves but employ others. In areas such as Aba in Abia State, there are teachers and trainers in various areas of entrepreneurship and vocations such as shoe-making, tailoring and a host of others. “In fact, I am informed that about 2 million young secondary school leavers write the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board examinations every year but only 350, 000 are admitted into universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. Apart from this there are thousands of others who go overseas to study. In fact, it is stated that nearly 100,000 young Nigerians went to study overseas in 2020 alone despite all the difficulties around the globe caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In Nigeria, Universities started in 1948, which is barely about 80 years ago and yet the level of unemployment in Nigeria cannot be compared to what they have in Europe. In Europe unemployment may be one doing a job he or she is not trained for. In Nigeria, PhD holders are among “okada” riders. As such it is not just opening up universities.”
Olatunji asked private universities to enhance quality and learning by keying into digital literacy, technology, soft and technical skills, entrepreneurship, research among others, even as he urged them to maintain standards and make their schools more affordable. He said while the tertiary education system is now fully commercialized and investors are trooping to, the approval of the private universities might end up weakening the public tertiary institutions more given the reality in our system.
Also reacting, the consultant Haematologist, University of Benin Teaching Hospital , Prof Matthew Enosolease, said: “We already have too many universities for our population. In fact, if anything, we have to streamline the number of the tertiary institutions in Nigeria to be industrial-driven because we are churning out graduates each year who only come out with a degree but no training.
Due to poor quality or quantity of graduates?