The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has blamed the rising number of unemployed graduates in Nigeria on the obsolete curriculum in the universities.
Adeboye, who is also the Visitor to the Redeemer’s University said this in his speech at the sixth convocation of the university at its permanent site in Ede, Osun State on Thursday.
The Visitor’s speech was read at the ceremony by Pastor Johnson Odesola.
He said that the nine year old university has already started to impact positively on the society adding that its graduates had been contributing to the development of humanity across the world.
He called on universities in Nigeria to come up with ideas which can make their products job creators and transform the society.
He said, “From a single university in 1948, there are now over 37 federal universities, 37 state universities and over 50 private universities, mostly offering generalist courses with some specializing in agriculture and technology.
However, there are hardly enough jobs for the graduates, as well as the fact that some of the graduates are not employable by the curriculum and skills that produced them.”
“We have problems with securing jobs for young people, and most of our productive sectors such as agriculture, mining, solid minerals and small scale industries are still, primitive in approach to leverage on the evolving global technologies to compete favorably in the global market.
“These problems have persisted and as burgeoning because the universities are largely out of synchronization with society. Hence we need to generate initiatives, ideas and momentum to transform our society.
“Increasingly discovered in the labour market, our universities continue to issue bland certificates to graduates who are barely literate, if we take literacy to be the ability to read and write.
“The education is bland and not tied to the need of the society. Education must be woven into life with a common thread running through life and society.”
Adeboye, however, said that the Redeemer’s University was committed to being an ideal citadel of learning and centre of excellence in all ramifications.
He commended the Timi of Ede, Oba Muniru Lawal for his commitment towards the realization of the relocation of the university to the permanent site.
The Chairman of Board of Trustees of the university, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo ( SAN), said the university had become outstanding within it short time it was established.
He noted the Redeemer’s University had continued to receive commendations from the Federal Government and international agencies for the role it played in containing the Ebola virus in Nigeria.
Osinbajo said, ” Our desire is that in no distant future, this university will through research innovation produce the Nobel Laureate winner in science. This feat is achievable if only we can continue to work towards giving our best and judiciously using the available resources to foster research activities that would produce scientific breakthroughs to solve some of the world’s major contemporary problems.”
The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Debo Adeyewa, said that the convocation was the first to be held at the percent site in Ede.
The VC said that 28 graduates made First Class Honours out of 598 graduates while 201 made Second Class Upper Division and 266 are graduating with Second Class Lower Division. The vice chancellor added that 103 graduates fell into other categories.
The vice chancellor said, ” In the past one year, Redeemer’s University gracefully emerged as the highest rated university from amongst 15 highly rated and prestigious universities from West and Central Africa selected through a rigorous and transparent exercise for establishment of the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases, being funded by the World Bank.
Source: Punch
