Nigeria’s universities must shift from certificates to skills, Okonkwo tells FG

Executive Chairman of United Nigeria Airlines, Professor Obiora Okonkwo, has said that Nigeria’s universities and polytechnics must move beyond certificate-driven education to producing skilled, innovative and ethical graduates capable of driving industrialisation, creating jobs and accelerating national development.

Okonkwo made the call on Tuesday while delivering the 14th Convocation Lecture of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), titled: “Functional Education and the Nigerian Project: Strategic Human Capital Development for National Renewal”.

He urged the Federal Government and education regulators to prioritise practical competencies, technical and vocational education, entrepreneurship, digital literacy and research commercialisation to make higher education more responsive to Nigeria’s economic and technological needs.

The professor argued that the country’s development challenge was not merely about expanding access to education but ensuring that graduates could translate knowledge into productive ventures, technological solutions and measurable improvements in society.

He said Nigeria should learn from countries such as Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, which leveraged education, technological expertise and innovation to build competitive economies despite limited natural resources.

According to him, universities should become centres of innovation and enterprise, where research findings are transformed into marketable products, indigenous technologies and employment opportunities through stronger partnerships with industry and government.

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Okonkwo also called for greater investment in technical and vocational education, digital infrastructure, laboratories, workshops and innovation hubs, stressing that graduates must be equipped to adapt to emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence and automation.

The entrepreneur said institutional performance should be assessed not only by enrolment figures, graduation rates and accredited programmes, but also by graduates’ employability, entrepreneurial success, research impact, patents and contributions to national development.

The future of Nigeria will ultimately be determined not by the abundance of its natural resources, but by the quality of its people and the institutions that prepare them.

“Repositioning higher education is therefore not simply an educational necessity; it is a national imperative. If we summon the vision, courage and commitment to pursue this strategic agenda with consistency and purpose, our universities, polytechnics and colleges of education will become more than centres,” Okonkwo said.