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From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The Chairman of United Nigeria Airlines, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, has challenged Nigerian universities to prioritise entrepreneurship and practical skills development, saying graduates must be prepared to create jobs rather than depend solely on paid employment.
Okonkwo, who made the call at the 15th convocation ceremony of Veritas University, Abuja, advocated the integration of entrepreneurship education into all academic departments, including medicine, law, engineering and the sciences.
He said the country’s higher education system must move beyond the award of certificates to equipping students with the knowledge, skills and mindset required to become self-reliant and contribute meaningfully to national development.
The airline chairman maintained that entrepreneurship should not be treated as a peripheral discipline but as a core subject for every university student, irrespective of their course of study.
According to him, medical students should be equipped with the entrepreneurial knowledge to establish private practices, while law graduates should understand the business opportunities within their profession.
He also urged researchers to consider the commercial viability of their innovations, noting that research outcomes capable of attracting investors would help universities transform discoveries into practical solutions.
“Entrepreneurship I am advocating should not just be a by-pass discipline. It should be a core subject that must be made available to all the students in every department.
“So that if you are studying medicine, you are thinking of entrepreneurship for medicine. What about tomorrow you want to be a private practitioner? If you are going to law, even if in the science department, these researchers will be able to think of the entrepreneurial aspect of their research outcome,” he said.
Okonkwo, a professor of entrepreneurship, said universities must prepare graduates to become self-employed and employers of labour rather than depend exclusively on the availability of paid employment.
He argued that the quality of education should not be measured merely by the number of graduates produced but by the knowledge, skills, moral values and sense of responsibility they acquire.
The entrepreneur, who disclosed that he established his business while still a student, said he had never been an employed person after graduation.
He said his experience had reinforced his conviction that entrepreneurial training should begin early in students’ academic journeys.
“I am a professor of entrepreneurship, so I am not just in the theory aspect, I am also in the practice. I have seen the ups and different things happen.
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“If you are in school and you are able to have an idea of how things work in the business world, that is why after my first, second degree with first class distinction, I have never been an employed person after my graduation. I had set up my business even while I was in school,” he said.
Okonkwo, however, acknowledged that entrepreneurship was not necessarily the career path for every graduate, adding that he was willing to guide students interested in establishing businesses.
He also advocated stronger collaboration between universities and industries, particularly through internship programmes that expose students to practical experience before graduation.
Describing internship as critical to bridging the gap between classroom learning and workplace demands, he disclosed that United Nigeria Airlines had signed memoranda of understanding with Nnamdi Azikiwe University and Afe Babalola University to train mechanical engineering students in its aviation maintenance unit.
According to him, students participating in the programme are paid during their internship, receive certificates upon completion and are considered for automatic employment based on their performance.
He said the programme had recorded impressive academic outcomes, with students who participated in the training graduating with at least second-class upper degrees.
Okonkwo said the initiative demonstrated the benefits of industry-based training and urged universities to expand partnerships with private sector organisations to improve graduate employability.
He further disclosed that his convocation lecture on entrepreneurship education at another university had been adopted as a policy document, with a committee established to study its recommendations and determine how they could be implemented across universities.
The United Nigeria Airlines chairman, who received an honorary doctorate degree from Veritas University, expressed appreciation to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), the institution’s proprietors, for the recognition.
He pledged to collaborate with the university to strengthen its academic programmes and support its ambition of becoming one of the leading institutions in Nigeria and Africa.
Okonkwo also commended the university’s management, under its Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Hyacinth Ichoku, for its achievements and commitment to practical education.
Congratulating the graduating students, he urged them to leverage the knowledge and experience acquired at the university to pursue their professional aspirations and contribute to society.
