UNILORIN expands skills acquisition for students, Launches U-INSPIRE initiative

The University of Ilorin has launched a new initiative, which would expand students’ skills acquisition programme beyond the GSC courses run by the Technical and Entrepreneurship Centre (TEC) for its undergraduate students. Speaking at the inauguration of the programme, tagged Innovative Skills and Pioneering Entrepreneurship Award (U-INSPIRE), penultimate Friday (October 4, 2024) at the University Auditorium, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, SAN, said that towards this end, a new apprenticeship model, which accommodates Postgraduate students, would be added to the initiative and it would be run in partnership with 21 organisations.
The Vice Chancellor assured stakeholders that both undergraduate and postgraduate students of the University will be prepared for the future world of work through U-INSPIRE.

Prof. Egbewole noted that students and non students in the Western world engage in multiple jobs, saying that while the certificate of the University of Ilorin will empower students, the skills would further empower them to utilise their certificates better. He illustrated the importance of skills acquisition in relation to theoretical knowledge with the difference between learning how to drive a car in the classroom and getting on the road to learn it. The Vice Chancellor urged students to own the programme by participating actively in the initiative for them to have an assured future.

In his address at the event, the Chairman of the U-INSPIRE Committee, Prof. Rasheed Gbenga Jimoh, noted that the programme is one that forges the partnership between the University and the industry and bridges the skill gap to make graduates ready for the industry, to make them innovate and to help them become entrepreneurs through soft skill acquisition, through Internship and through entrepreneurship. Prof. Jimoh noted that the programme will also create avenue for mentorship that avail students with practical skills and exposure that will help them thrive in a competitive world as job creators. He added that the success of the programme is dependent on continued support from all stakeholders.

The Director of the Technical and Entrepreneurship Centre (TEC), Prof. Usman Adebimpe Raheem, who launched the website of U-INSPIRE, said that the website facilitates interaction between the University, partners and students as they build the project. The TEC Director described the programme as an example of town and gown partnership and disclosed that most of the courses are related to digital skills and they are modern.

Also speaking at the event, the Ag. Director of the Centre for Research Development and In-House Training (CREDIT), Dr Abdulkareem Ayopo Oloyede, highlighted the obligations of all participants. Dr Oloyede noted that students would be exposed to work place experience, and skills needed to set up businesses, adding that the courses could be taken at any level of studentship and there is a certificate for each of the courses. The certificate, according to him, would be jointly issued by both the University and the partner organisations.

The CREDIT Director also noted that students could also set up companies that could provide services to the University after they present a proposal, which convinces the University on why their services are better than existing ones. He pointed out that the programme is both white collar and blue collar skill-oriented rather than theoretical.