The online session began with Prof Olujoba Aberijo presented on the limitations of Nigeria’s former non-vocational and vocational education systems and the need for a new dimension of thinking in education to address the rapid increase in unemployment in Nigeria. He emphasized the importance of universities in providing true entrepreneurial training and fostering entrepreneurship to build industries and solve real-world problems.

Prof Olujoba Aberijo shared the inspiring story of Starcomms Bank and its founder, Tony Elumelu, as a testament to the power of innovation and critical thinking in business. He stressed the significance of entrepreneurial skills, which are essential for building successful businesses, and proposed a Bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship that would provide students with real-life skills and performance-based assessment. The program would include courses that encourage critical thinking and idea generation, as well as a mandatory enterprise area of technical or vocational choices. The meeting also discussed the need for a shift in the mindset of university students from job seekers to entrepreneurs, and the importance of universities in developing entrepreneurial skills in their students. The proposal for Obafemi Awolowo University to become a leading institution in entrepreneurship and set an example for other universities to follow by establishing an entrepreneurship institute was praised and suggested to be submitted to the Committee of Jeans for consideration. The meeting ended with a discussion on the regulatory framework for entrepreneurship education and the need for training and funding to start a center on entrepreneurship.