Former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Prof. Oladapo Afolabi, has called for the repositioning of postgraduate education in the country as a key driver of national development.

Afolabi, who spoke while presenting a paper on ‘Postgraduate Education: Agenda for National Development,’ during the 2025 Annual Lecture of the School of Postgraduate Studies, University of Lagos, yesterday, described postgraduate education as a powerful tool for national transformation when strategically designed and implemented.

According to the guest lecturer, it cultivates leadership, drives innovation and enhances governance. He said: “As Nigeria and other developing nations confront complex 21st century challenges: climate change, youth unemployment, technological disruptions, artificial intelligence and Internet of Things, there is an urgent need to reposition postgraduate education as a key driver of national development.

“Governments, universities, industry and civil society must collaborate to develop and implement a robust agenda that ensures postgraduate education delivers value, relevance and transformation.”

He emphasised that postgraduate education was designed for innovation, leadership, and progress, noting that it required taking innovative steps to impact public policies positively.

He stated that for postgraduate education to set agenda for national development, there was a need to revamp the curriculum and align it with national goals, boost funding through research grants, scholarships, and infrastructure; strengthen industry ties, promote global collaboration to exchange ideas, embark on governance reforms that will enable universities to innovate freely and create a national research council to set research priorities and track results.

He stated that learning from other global leaders could illuminate a path forward for Nigeria’s postgraduate education system. He cited the examples of Finland, which focuses on interdisciplinary research and strong links to societal needs to address its challenges; South Korea, which encourages robust industry-academia collaboration to drive technological advancements; and the United Kingdom, which strategically aligns PhD funding and research incentives with national priorities.