Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Chair Centre Group, Mrs Ibukun Awosika has canvassed the incorporation of entrepreneurship programmes into early academic curricula, saying this would shape Nigerian graduates into catalyst for employment creation.

Awosika, a former Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria, challenged the conventional belief that a university education is the sole route to entrepreneurship, emphasising the importance of diverse technical skill sets for enterprise development after primary or secondary education.

Awosika, who was the guest speaker at the seventh public Lecture of Corona College of Education, Lagos, emphasised the impact of aligning entrepreneurship development with Nigeria’s educational framework, and advocated the cultivation of a problem-solving mindset with commercial value, starting from the grassroots.

Drawing from her experience as the first female chairman of First Bank, Awosika, in her lecture titled: “The future of education and entrepreneurship in Nigeria: Trends and predictions,” harped on the essence of entrepreneurship as a vehicle for offering viable solutions to societal challenges.

She stressed the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises in job creation and the need for streamlined value chains to stimulate efficiency, innovation, and sector-wide growth.

In her remarks, the provost of the college, Dr Olajumoke Mekiliuwa, highlighted the importance of revitalising Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) as a mechanism to reshape Nigeria’s education system and bridge the gap between academic knowledge and practical skills.