Employers of labour have decried the quality of graduates being produced by Nigerian tertiary institutions, faulting university curricula for failing to meet current workplace expectations.

The concerns were raised at a panel session themed: ‘Talents, values and impact: Reimagining the university-industry nexus to drive ethical, skilled and globally competitive graduates’, which was held as part of the 2026 International Week of the University of Lagos (UNILAG).

The session was moderated by the Chairman of UNILAG Consult Limited Management Board, Prof. Ismail Ibraheem.
Panellists included the Chief Operating Officer of KPMG Nigeria and West Africa, Mrs Toyin Gbagi; the Executive Director, Operations, Stanbic IBTC, Mrs Funke Amobi; and the Governor, Teaching and Learning, Banana Island International School, Mrs Moulinsade Marriott.

Others were the Vice-President, International Engagement and Service, King’s College London, Prof. Funmi Olonisakin; Charles Wales of the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom; and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics and Research), UNILAG, Prof. Matthew Ilori.

The panellists were unanimous in their view that there is an urgent need to bridge the widening gap between what is taught in the classroom and what is demanded in the workplace.

They stressed that theoretical instruction must be combined with practical exposure, sustained industry collaboration and deliberate opportunities for students to apply classroom knowledge to real-world problems.

Speaking on recruitment experiences, Gbagi lamented a noticeable decline in the quality of graduates seeking employment.

She said it had become a major struggle for employers to identify competent candidates during recruitment exercises.

According to her, it is common to struggle to get 10 competent hires out of 100 applicants who present themselves for employment tests and interviews.

She explained that because of the quality gap, companies are compelled to invest heavily in intensive post-employment training to bring new hires up to speed with contemporary workplace realities.

Gbagi questioned the relevance of several courses and curricula currently being run in Nigerian universities.

She noted that in other countries, academic programmes are subject to frequent evaluation, and those with zero employer demand are revoked or phased out.

She therefore called for regular and rigorous evaluation of courses offered in tertiary institutions, arguing that curriculum review has become even more urgent in light of the way artificial intelligence is reshaping the nature of work, skills, and job functions.

“There is a decline in the quality of graduates from our tertiary institutions. The problem is always about the quality of hires, not the available quantity. As a result, there is a lot of rigour that we put into the training of those that we hire. Universities must look beyond just sending their students on internships. There is a big question about curriculum relevance.

“How frequently do we evaluate courses? Sometimes, for some of these courses, the demand is zero. Courses are being revoked in countries that regularly embark on the evaluation of courses,” Gbagi added.

She urged universities to take employability more seriously as a core principle in curriculum design.

On her part, Amobi said the gap between academia and industry must be closed, insisting that employers want graduates who can hit the ground running upon employment.

“There has to be a bridge between academia and industry. We want graduates who would hit the ground running upon their employment. We need graduates that can process data; we need aggregators; we need them to be smart, visionaries with the use of technology,” she said.

Marriott stressed that graduate employability is greatly enhanced when students are trained to be critical thinkers who are adaptable, resilient, flexible, and driven by strong ethical values, in addition to technical competence.

Olonisakin and Wales dwelt on the broader value of university education, entrepreneurship training, industry expectations, the growing role of artificial intelligence in professional life and the internationalisation of higher education.

Wales gave assurance of stronger collaboration between the University of Birmingham and the University of Lagos to better equip graduates to meet ever-evolving workplace demands.

He stressed that sustained collaboration between academia and industry is essential to keeping university curricula relevant.

In his contribution, Ilori said universities must now take the lead in approaching industry for collaboration to ensure that curricula are modified to align with current industry needs, rather than waiting for industry to come to them.

“We have waited long enough for the industry to come. We will be charging towards the industry for the necessary collaboration to strengthen the quality of our graduates,” Ilori said.