Posted by Opeyemi Bamidele, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, and Legal Matters, has encouraged the federal government to subsidize entrepreneurial programs at private colleges.
According to the senator, such funding will assist institutions around the country in financially preparing their deserving graduates and making them self-sufficient.
Bamidele challenged the current model, which limits such support to state universities, saying that such interventions must include both public and private ivory towers offering Entrepreneurial Studies as a course.
The Senator hailed this as a powerful corrective move that has the potential to reduce unemployment and poverty in the country.
He declared this during the weekend in Ikeji Arakeji, Osun State, while receiving an honorary Doctor of Public Administration from Joseph Ayo Babalola University (JABU).
The senator went on to say that JABU’s emphasis on entrepreneurship demonstrated the organization’s unwavering commitment to eradicating the cankerworms of unemployment and poverty that are destroying the country and having repercussions such as kidnappings, homicides, and internet fraud.
Bamidele argued for a comprehensive revision of the country’s curriculum from primary to tertiary levels in order to instill skills and entrepreneurship that will boost productivity and revitalize the economy.
He stated that in order for the objective of making Nigeria a nation that can defend citizens’ rights and promote their potential to become a reality, the government at all levels must show interest in how universities pursue entrepreneurial courses in order to provide traction to human capital development.
“To that end, I beg the Federal Government to encourage all public and private colleges now engaged in entrepreneurship courses by extending the TETFUND perks and privileges to them,” Bamidele added.
“This is to allow them to admit and train more students in accordance with global standards. Also, as the nation’s private sector and the inventive industry is getting repositioned for us to construct a more expanding economy, the Government should quickly provide more favorable legislative regime and infrastructure environment for business and creativity to thrive better in Nigeria”.
Bamidele praised JABU for prioritizing the promotion of self-employment among its alumni, describing it as a bastion of learning with a focus and clairvoyance for greatness.
“The priority your university devotes to entrepreneurial training is indeed, an eloquent tribute to the depth of the vision, wealth of experience and volume of exposure of the founding fathers of this university.
“It is a demonstration of their capacity to see ahead and openly admit that the greatness of our future as a nation largely depends on the extent to which our youth can create wealth through the deployment of their unique abilities and new ideas.
“Apart from helping to reduce the problem of enormous unemployment among our graduates and young school leavers, it also provides them the capacity to gainfully generate revenue, become financially self-reliant and even create job possibilities for others.
“All across the world, it is no longer realistic for Governments to supply white collar jobs for all the young graduates from the universities, polytechnics, technical colleges and other educational institutions.
“The current trend is that governments are really looking for ways to reduce the cost of governance and are taking aggressive steps to replace humans with high-tech equipment and artificial intelligence.
“The new wave of technological transformation and the concomitant growth of digital economies around the globe is a signpost to the reality that nations that are determined to survive must prioritize the impartation of innovative knowledge and technical abilities in their young people.
“You will agree with me that this is the secret and the genuine strength of the Asian tigers for which the rest of the world has continued to adore them today.
“To attain a similar feat in Nigeria nay Africa, our policymakers and state actors must prioritize entrepreneurship training by ensuring that our educational curriculum from the primary to tertiary levels incorporates the development of technical skills, creative innovation, digital education, problem-solving skills, and the impartation of managerial capacity as well as interpersonal relationship development”.
Bamidele praised the JABU’s management for the honor, adding it will inspire him to achieve better in all of his public appearances.
Earlier, the university’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Olaosebikan Alade Fakolujo, urged the federal lawmaker to maintain the pace of exemplary leadership that had distinguished him as one public servant with a love and panache for good governance to assist in bringing Nigeria out of its current precarious and crippling situation.