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. This call was made by the Executive Secretary of the NUC, Professor Abdullahi Yusufu Ribadu, at a two-day Entrepreneurship Institutional Readiness Workshop in Abuja. The workshop was 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, 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.
The NUC has established benchmarks for monitoring Entrepreneurship Development Centres (EDCs) in universities, with emphasis on quality control, effective mentorship, sustainable funding and stronger university-industry partnerships. 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.
Prior to the directive, only about seven institutions had standardised entrepreneurship courses. However, the sector has since evolved with a clearer operational framework for quality assurance. The NUC has continued to support universities through funding, capacity building, infrastructure and staffing interventions. Recent curriculum reforms under the Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS) have provided universities with greater flexibility to respond to emerging skills needs.
The CCMAS curriculum content allows 30 per cent discretion for individual universities to introduce high-demand practical skills such as software engineering, data analytics and sustainable business models. Assessment is also moving beyond conventional theoretical examinations to practical outcomes, including prototyping, pitching and business-plan execution. This approach aims to equip graduates with relevant entrepreneurial and practical skills.
The NUC reaffirmed its commitment to compliance and assessment visits to ensure that entrepreneurship programmes remain relevant to industry and capable of helping graduates transition from job seekers to job creators. Stronger collaboration among universities, employers and industry is necessary to shape entrepreneurship education and ensure that graduates acquire required competencies.
The workshop featured presentations, including the new Operational Guidelines for Entrepreneurship Development Centres in Nigerian Universities, developed by Professor Gbemisola Oke from the University of Ibadan. The guidelines provide a uniform national framework for EDCs, embedding entrepreneurial competencies across academic programmes and strengthening university-community and university-industry linkages.
Key points
- NUC calls for stronger industry feedback to drive university curriculum review.
- Universities urged to increase investment in innovation hubs and adopt data-driven assessments.
- New guidelines for Entrepreneurship Development Centres aim to institutionalise a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship across Nigerian universities.
