Nigeria is set to establish the first Entrepreneurship University in Africa at l Bama, Borno State as stakeholders in the education sector gave overwhelming support at a public hearing in the Senate Monday.
By Haruna Salami
Nigeria is set to establish the first Entrepreneurship University in Africa at l Bama, Borno State as stakeholders in the education sector gave overwhelming support at a public hearing in the Senate Monday.
Speaking at the public hearing, which was organized by the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, the sponsor of the bill, Senator Kaka Shehu Lawan (Borno Central) said the specialised university will turn Nigerian youths into entrepreneurs instead of seeking non-existent white collar jobs..
Senator Kaka, who was recently conferred with Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) said the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) survey for the first quarter of 2024, Nigeria’s unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2024 rose to 5.3%, which represents a 0.3%-points increase from 5.0% in the third quarter of 2023. The NBS also reported that the unemployment rate for males stood at 4.3%, while females experienced a higher rate of 6.2%.
He said the “more disheartening is the fact that, according to The Spectator Index (a global youth unemployment index), Nigeria has an astronomical 53 percent youth unemployment rate which places it second to only South Africa, which has 61 percent youth unemployment. These worrisome statistics have negative effects on the nation generally, as they lead to geometric rise in social vices and crimes in the society, all in the quest for survival.
However, there is hope through the proposed university that focuses on agriculture and entrepreneurship education, which prepares the youths to be responsible and enterprising.
According to him, the sad trend of high quest for white-collar jobs with the attendant unemployment rate “underscores the need for a specialised university with focus on agriculture and entrepreneurship”.
He described entrepreneurship education as the process through which individuals acquire a broad set of competencies that can produce greater social and economic benefits to the individuals.
“It is a form of education that seeks to provide knowledge, skills, attitude and motivation to students for entrepreneurial success in various facets of human endeavour, by equipping them with the ability to seek investment opportunities and maximize returns from those investments.
Apart from agriculture, he said entrepreneurship which is a major focus of this Bill encompasses all kinds of experiences that give students the ability and vision of how to access and transform opportunities of different kinds. In essence, the proposed university which focuses on agriculture and entrepreneurship will provide a platform for youths to transform opportunities to business ventures and, accordingly, manage those ventures to become a medium for job creation for themselves and others.
Speaking on the absence of officials of the Federal Ministry of Education at the public hearing, Chairman of Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, Senator Muntari Mohammed Dandutse (6Katsina South) said there was no cause for alarm as their absence could be due to other official engagements.
Dandutse said there was no single opposition to bill from any quarters, adding that if any organization was opposed to the bill, such objection would have been written as a memorandum.
The Shehu of Bama, Borno State, Dr. Ibn Umar Kyari El-Kanemi expressed gratitude to all the stakeholders for the “unprecedented support”.
He assured all Nigerians that the people will provide a favourable and conducive environment for the specialized university to succeed.
The Governor of of Borno State, represented by the Deputy Speaker of Borno State House of Assembly, Hon. Abdullahi Askira assured that Borno State Government will give the necessary political will the university needs to succeed if passed into law.
Senator Dandutse finally assured that bill will receive speedy passage under the Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who he referred to as “uncommon Senate President” and equally receive presidential assent with the full support which the bill enjoys from Vice President, Kasim Shettima.
