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By Oluseye Ojo
Nigeria may continue to lag in global technological innovation unless governments at all levels urgently modernise engineering laboratories and workshops across the country’s tertiary institutions.
The alarm was raised by academics and students of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD).
The warning came as 37 engineering students and two lecturers returned from an intensive practical training programme at the Zhejiang Polytechnic University of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (ZIME), Hangzhou, China, where they were exposed to some of the world’s most advanced engineering technologies.
The delegation said the experience revealed a wide gap between engineering education in Nigeria and China, stressing that while Nigerian students possess the intellectual capacity to compete globally, obsolete facilities and inadequate investment in practical training continue to hold them back.
Speaking at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, Provost of ABUAD’s College of Engineering, Prof. Moses Onibonoje, said the country’s quest for industrialisation would remain elusive without deliberate investment in modern engineering infrastructure.
According to him, the students completed the theoretical component of the three-month programme in Nigeria before travelling to China for a 20-day intensive practical session, where they received hands-on training in intelligent manufacturing and intelligent control technologies.
The participants worked with sophisticated equipment, including Programmable Logic Control (PLC) systems, digital twin laboratories, robotic arm technologies, Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines, industrial-grade 2D and 3D printers, coordinate milling machines and precision metrology equipment.
“Our students have demonstrated that Nigerian youth can compete with their peers anywhere in the world when given access to the right facilities. What they need is an enabling environment that supports innovation, research and practical learning,” Onibonoje said.
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He described the exchange programme as a landmark initiative for ABUAD, adding that it also exposed the students to China’s culture of innovation, industrial discipline and rapid technological development.
The Provost commended the founder of the university, Aare Afe Babalola, for facilitating the partnership, noting that it had created opportunities for future academic exchanges and postgraduate scholarships.
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Imhade Princess Okokpujie, said the students excelled in programming, advanced manufacturing and 3D printing, proving that the challenge facing engineering education in Nigeria is not a lack of talent but inadequate infrastructure.
She called for sustained investment in state-of-the-art laboratories and workshops, saying such facilities are indispensable if Nigeria hopes to build a technology-driven economy capable of competing with leading industrial nations.
One of the participants, Adeniji Adam Opeyemi, a 500-level Mechanical Engineering student, said the programme transformed classroom theories into practical skills through hands-on use of CNC machines, digital twin systems and other advanced manufacturing technologies.
He observed that engineering education in China is largely practice-driven, with students spending more time in workshops and laboratories than in lecture rooms.
Another participant, Judith Obioha, a 500-level Mechatronics Engineering student, said every student had unrestricted access to sophisticated equipment, allowing them to gain individual practical experience without competing for machines.
She added that the exchange also provided valuable cultural exposure, including lessons in the Chinese language and visits to museums.
