The National Universities Commission [NUC] has called for stronger feedback from employers and industry to ensure that university curricula remain responsive to labour-market needs and equip graduates with relevant entrepreneurial and practical skills.
Executive Secretary of the NUC, Professor Abdullahi Yusufu Ribadu, made the call in Abuja, at a two-day Entrepreneurship Institutional Readiness Workshop, organised by the commission in collaboration with the British Council.
Ribadu, who was represented at the workshop by the Director, Research, Innovation and Information Technology, Mal. Lawal Mohammed Faruk, also urged universities to increase investment in innovation hubs and adopt data-driven assessments to guide curriculum review and improve entrepreneurship education.
He stressed that entrepreneurship should not be treated as an isolated course or activity, but as a holistic enterprise embedded across university systems.
He said the commission has established benchmarks for monitoring Entrepreneurship Development Centres in universities, with emphasis on quality control, effective mentorship, sustainable funding and stronger university-industry partnerships.[EDCs]
Ribadu recalled that entrepreneurship education received a major boost following the Federal Government’s directive for universities to establish functional EDCs, leading to a significant expansion of entrepreneurship education across the Nigerian University System.
He said that whereas only about seven institutions had standardised entrepreneurship courses at the time, the sector had since evolved with a clearer operational framework for quality assurance.
The NUC boss said the commission had continued to support universities through funding, capacity building, infrastructure and staffing interventions.
He added that recent curriculum reforms under the Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards [CCMAS] had provided universities with greater flexibility to respond to emerging skills needs.
Ribadu noted that 30 per cent of the CCMAS curriculum content was left to the discretion of individual universities, allowing them to introduce high-demand practical skills such as software engineering, data analytics and sustainable business models.
He said assessment was also moving beyond conventional theoretical examinations to practical outcomes, including prototyping, pitching and business-plan execution.
The Executive Secretary reaffirmed the NUC’s commitment to compliance and assessment visits to ensure that entrepreneurship programmes remained relevant to industry and capable of helping graduates transition from job seekers to job creators.
He further emphasised the need for stronger collaboration among universities, employers and industry in shaping entrepreneurship education and ensuring that graduates acquire competencies required in the world of work.
Speaking at the workshop, the facilitator, Mr Daniel Emenahor, who supports international partnerships between British and Nigerian universities, said the programme was designed to facilitate practical solutions for strengthening entrepreneurship education in Nigerian universities.
The British Council Nigeria representative, Ms Donna McGowan, commended the NUC for its leadership in advancing entrepreneurship education and sustaining its partnership with the council.
She urged universities to use the opportunity to strengthen entrepreneurship education and make it an integral component of institutional development.
McGowan said universities had an important role not only in preparing young people for employment but also in enabling them to develop innovative solutions to societal challenges and create opportunities for others.
She said the major challenge was to move entrepreneurship beyond being merely a centre, course, competition or annual event to becoming an integral part of university operations.
She disclosed that the framework being explored at the workshop focused on six interconnected dimensions: Strategy, Environment, Partnerships, Pedagogy, Implementation and Impact.
According to her, a university could have a renowned entrepreneurship centre, but without institutional support, meaningful partnerships, appropriate teaching approaches and measurable outcomes, its impact would remain limited.
She therefore urged participants to examine existing practices, identify what works and the barriers confronting their institutions, and develop practical actions that could be implemented.
A major highlight of the workshop was the presentation and validation of the new Operational Guidelines for Entrepreneurship Development Centres in Nigerian Universities by the lead resource person and Professor at the University of Ibadan, Prof. Gbemisola Oke.
Oke said the guidelines had undergone several reviews and consultations involving the NUC and the British Council, resulting in what she described as a more streamlined framework.
She said the document provided guidance on the definition and functions of EDCs, staffing, infrastructure, funding sources, monitoring and evaluation.
The professor said the guidelines positioned EDCs within a university-wide entrepreneurship ecosystem rather than as standalone units, with every part of the university expected to contribute to entrepreneurial learning and development.
She said the objectives of the guidelines included providing a uniform national framework for EDCs, embedding entrepreneurial competencies across academic programmes in line with the CCMAS and global frameworks, strengthening university-community and university-industry linkages, and institutionalising a culture of innovation, monitoring and evaluation.
Oke said the framework drew from global best practices, including the European Entrepreneurship Competence Framework and the Triple Helix Model of University-Industry-Government collaboration, while being adapted to Nigeria’s Agenda 2050, the National Development Plan and the Sustainable Development Goals.
She explained that the new approach represented a shift from a centrally taught, standalone entrepreneurship course to a cross-cutting capability integrated across disciplines.
The framework, she said, would cover the full cycle from research and invention through intellectual property protection, licensing, commercialisation and revenue generation.
She added that assessment under the new guidelines would increasingly focus on practical outcomes such as patents, prototypes and business creation, supported by appropriate intellectual property policies, infrastructure and incentive mechanisms.