Okebukola to Deliver NUC Distinguished Lecture

The former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Peter Akinsola Okebukola, will on May 2, 2017, deliver the second in the series of the NUC Distinguished Lectures titled, ‘On the March to Re-invent the Curricula of Nigerian Universities for Improved Relevance and Global Competiveness’.

The lecture, which will be chaired by the former President,  Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, aims at spotlighting critical curricular issues pertaining to national needs assessment and global best practices. It is expected to throw up veritable pathways to reinventing the curricula of Nigerian universities and stimulate contributions from a cross-section of policy makers, academics, university managers, the organised private sector, employers of labour and other key stakeholders.

The Director, Research and Innovation of the Commission, Dr. Suleiman Ramon-Yusuf, in a statement, said universities are acknowledged, worldwide, as the engines for knowledge generation and the production of high level manpower to drive the socio-economic development of nations.

“The role played by curricula in inculcating the requisite skills, knowledge and attitudes in students to ensure meaningful contribution by graduates to nation-building and global competitiveness, cannot be overstated.

In recent times, he added, there have been consistent criticisms from diverse stakeholder groups about real and perceived inability of graduates of Nigerian universities to function meaningfully in the world of work, with strident cries about knowledge and skills gaps, calling to question the quality of the graduates.

“In all of these, the curricula continue to be the usual culprit despite the commission’s pro-active systematic and periodic review of university curricula. Preparatory to a comprehensive reform of university curricula in all the 14 disciplinary clusters being taught in Nigeria universities, the distinguished lecture is being organised by the commission to set the tone for broader stakeholder interaction and engagement in the curriculum reform process,” he stressed

The Honourable Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu is the Guest of Honour at the lecture, to which all Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, Chairman and Distinguished Members of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, Chairman and Honourable Members of the House Committee on Tertiary Education and Services,  as well as Chairpersons of the Education Committees of State Houses of Assembly have been invited.

Also invited are the Presidents of the Nigerian Academies of Education, Letters, Engineering and Science; university-based unions, professional regulatory agencies, Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), executive secretaries of parastatals under the Federal Ministry of Education and Honourable Commissioners of state ministries of higher education; development partners, such as the British Council and the World Bank; education Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), the diplomatic corps, print and electronic media organisations, as well as the general public.