Experts advocate knowledge-based university curriculum

Industry experts and education watchers have advocated for a quick and pragmatic change to human capital development and training offered by the institutions of higher learning in the country, especially the universities, declaring that for Nigeria to revert to the pre-eminent role she played in Africa, the nation must move along with the ever-changing world economic status.

They identified a change of universities’ curricula to accommodate enterprise, entrepreneurship, project planning and implementation as necessary skills capable of transforming Nigerian economy vis-a-vis her growing population

Chinedu Duru, Human resource specialist believes that Nigeria, at this trying period, requires pragmatic, effective and necessity approach rather than a conscious national plan.

Duru noted that it is unforgivable therefore if we fail to understand that our economy has changed, and that the training of our human capital must change, not only as a response to the present; but also as a strategic plan to control the future.

“We need more Nigerian companies involved in our construction at the highest capacities for bridges, rail and mass housing, for drilling our oil and extracting our gas and responding to our service gaps. It is that new Nigeria of entrepreneurs that will take us back to our pre-eminent role in Africa and make us a competitive global player” he said.

“The road to that destination necessarily demands a change of curriculum to include enterprise and entrepreneurship, project planning and implementation as necessary skills that every Nigerian graduate of any discipline must possess.”

On his part, Oye, Ibidapo-Obe, the vice chancellor of Federal University, Ndufu Alike Ikwo (FUNAI) in Ebonyi State pointed out that universities and other higher institutions as innovation hubs have major roles to play in using science and technology to drive development by building capacities in agriculture/ food security, engineering, health and so on.

He said, “Developing economies, such as ours, can only fast-track and/or leap frog their growth through targeted research and development. A practical way to do this is to do what is generically referred to as reverse engineering. It is these institutions that must provide the road map to circumvent those road blocks to indigenous technology enhancement necessary for driving innovation and development of the nation.

“The nation must be prepared to invest heavily in the higher education cutting across both the public and private- The research facilities must orchestrate the brain power of the staff, take responsibility for training new generation of talents and participate in the transformation of the nation’s science and technology base.”

He noted that the world has moved from commodity-based and military power ranking to knowledge economies/societies, adding that the paradigm shift is propelled by advancements made through science and technology innovations.

KELECHI EWUZIE