Abuja: The Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, has urged Nigerian universities to embrace academic entrepreneurship and innovation to produce graduates capable of driving the nation’s economic growth. Ribadu made the call at the International Conference on Academic Entrepreneurship, Knowledge and Technology Transfer in Abuja.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the conference was organised by the NUC in collaboration with German universities and development partners. Represented by the Director of Research, Innovation and Information Technology at the commission, Malam Lawal Faruk, Ribadu stated that universities worldwide were expected to evolve into centres of creativity, enterprise, and social transformation. He emphasized that the future of higher education hinged on preparing graduates for a rapidly changing world through the acquisition of entrepreneurial, digital, and critical-thinking skills.
Prof. Ribadu explained that this conviction led to the development and implementation of the Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS), which emphasizes learner-centred and competency-based education. ‘The framework seeks to equip students not only with disciplinary knowledge but also with entrepreneurial skills, digital competencies, critical thinking, and adaptability required in today’s workplace,’ he said.
He further stressed the need for stronger collaboration between universities and industry, noting that the success of modern universities would be gauged by their capability to transform ideas into innovation and research into societal impact. Achieving this objective necessitated stronger partnerships among academia, government, industry, and innovators, alongside fostering institutional cultures that encourage creativity and reward innovation.
Additionally, the NUC’s collaboration with institutions in Germany highlighted the importance of international partnerships in building innovation ecosystems capable of enhancing global competitiveness while addressing local and national challenges. Chris Vilas-Mote, Programme Officer at the German Academic Exchange Service Regional Office in Ghana, affirmed the organization’s commitment to supporting partnerships between Germany and Nigeria in education, research, and innovation. He noted that Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) was one of the world’s largest scholarship organizations, supporting university collaborations, scholarships, and innovation initiatives aimed at empowering young researchers and entrepreneurs.
Prof. Harald Von Korflesch of the University of Koblenz, in his keynote presentation, advocated for a more structured approach to building entrepreneurial universities. He suggested that universities must embed entrepreneurship at the core of their institutional ecosystems through professional mentorship, industry linkages, innovation support structures, and technology commercialisation. Von Korflesch also noted the need for greater efforts to convert research outputs into viable businesses and startups capable of generating jobs and economic value, emphasizing the significance of strengthening knowledge and technology transfer mechanisms to ensure research conducted in universities contributes directly to national development and industrial growth.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the conference gathered university administrators, researchers, policymakers, development agencies, and international partners to explore strategies for advancing entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology transfer in higher education institutions.