1. A VOTE FOR ENTREPRENEURIAL EDUCATION BY PRESIDENT BUHARI
BY OUR REPORTER: DECEMBER 12, 2015 THE SUN EDITORIAL
President Muhammadu Buhari recently called on universities and other institutions of higher
learning in the country to refocus their orientation toward entrepreneurial driven curriculum. Buhari
said this at the 41st convocation of the University of Benin, Edo State.
The President, who was represented at the event by the Minister of State for Education, Prof
Anthony Anwuka, pointed out that entrepreneurial driven curriculum will create jobs and improve
the capacity to produce the right personnel to drive government’s economic policies.
We welcome the president’s good charge to our tertiary institutions to produce job creators instead
of graduates who will be busy looking for elusive jobs. There is no doubt that all over the world, the
emphasis is on practical education and not one that is solely based on theories. The world economy
is technologically and scientifically driven. Nigeria must join the rest of the world by investing heavily
in science and technology education. Our nation has excelled in the humanities and social sciences.
Our emphasis now should be on science and technology education, which we have not fully
exploited to solve our existential problems.
For Nigeria to compete favourably with other advanced nations in the world, our education
curriculum must be tailored to be highly pragmatic and aimed at problem solving. Our universities
should be centres of research that must proffer solutions to the problems afflicting the nation. There
is utmost need for collaboration between the universities and the industries in order to solve
Nigeria’s problems. Therefore, government must stop paying lip service to vocational and technical
education, the bedrock of scientific and technological education. State governments should join the
Federal Government in this crusade to entrepreneurial education and invest heavily in technical
education.
President Buhari has said what many of his predecessors had earlier said. What is important now is
that he must match his words with action. The administration should show personal commitment in
this regard. Our universities of technology and agriculture should be adequately funded to launch
the country into the scientific and technological orbit.
We advise the government to vote a sizeable amount of money for vocational and technical
education at both primary and secondary school levels. It should embark on a programme to capture
young and promising scientists, industrialists and entrepreneurs. This is the case in many advanced
countries. There should also be schools for highly gifted children, especially in science and
technology, while not neglecting the humanities and social sciences. The gifted scholars should be
sent abroad to learn from others and come home and help the country with their expertise.
Government should establish vocational and technical education at the secondary school level in all
the local governments in the country. These schools should also be well equipped and well -staffed
to deliver the needs of the country and reflect our needs. We call for a return to vocational training
that includes basket weaving and broom making, carpentry, sewing, fence mending, roof building,
and others in the school system. We believe that through such vocational training, pupils can
discover their innate talents.

2. It is regrettable that government’s attempts to promote entrepreneurial education through the
introduction of the 6-3-3-4 system of education before, did not meet with much success. Perhaps,
this system of education can still be revisited and improved upon with emphasis on the practical
side. We support the call for a refocusing of our educational curriculum towards problem solving.
That is the best way to go. Our schools, especially research institutes and universities, must provide
answers to the problems of the nation at each particular epoch.
Our school curriculum should be restructured, in such a way that graduates will not only be suitable
for white collar jobs. The nation’s education system should be able to produce mechanics, painters,
artisans and electricians that can be self- employed and even create jobs for others. In the same
vein, our agriculture graduates should embrace crop, fish farming and animal husbandry without
seeking white collar jobs that are not available. Our engineers should toe the same path as well.