The Chief Executive Officer, MICCOM Cables and Wires Limited, Mrs Olubukola Adubi, yesterday, emphasised the need for curriculum reforms that promote experiential learning, thriving on industry-academia partnership. 

She also said industries must no longer be passive consumers of talent but must become active developers of talent to engender rapid industrial development. 

Adubi led the call at the 2025 yearly business luncheon entitled: “Nigeria’s industrial transformation through experiential learning and industry partnership” organised by the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Ikeja Branch, in Lagos. 

Adubi said Nigeria’s industrial future will not fall from the sky but must be engineered strategically, persistently and innovatively from policy to practice. 
She lamented that the nation’s industrial sector contributes less than 20 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP); hence, the need for revolution in the sector for survival and prosperity. 

“Experiential learning is globally recognised as the most powerful model as students transform from passive learners to active innovators through industrial projects, apprenticeships and simulation. Industrialisation is more than building factories, but capacity development”.

We need to move beyond written plans and discussions to hands-on training, industry partnerships and curriculum reforms. Transform education to transform industry, upgrading learning innovation and growth in the industrial sector must be the guarantor of quality and relevance, “she said. 

To her, Nigeria needs learned doers and not degree holders, adding that experiential learning will trigger critical thinking ability that gives solutions to societal problems. 

She further argued that to bridge the disconnect between industry and academia, institutions like the Council of Registered Engineers in Nigeria and the Nigerian Society of Engineers need to take a leading role in bridging the gap.