I remain committed to fostering vocational education — TECH-U Vice-Chancellor

In 2017, at the inauguration of the Technical University, (Tech-U), Ibadan, Oyo State, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Ayobami Salami openly declared that no student of the university would look for a job after graduation- It was a vision at the time. Four years down the line, Prof Ayobami Salami in a chat with NIGERIAN NEWSDIRECT still maintains this position. He said that Tech-U has gone far in implementing its vision and now boosts undergraduates that are already entrepreneurs.

How has it been realising the vision of the University?

I will start with the quote of Abraham Lincoln which states that “It shall be possible.”  It has been an exciting thing seeing that we planted a seed and it has begun to grow and sprout.

With regard to implementing our vision, we have been working assiduously to ensure that our students gain robust knowledge of the vocation they choose to venture in apart from the academic learning and activities. Once they are admitted, we start the work of re-orientation, changing their beliefs about white or blue-collar jobs, and then move on to ensure that they develop the required skills to become entrepreneurs.

When I made that position in 2017, we didn’t have enough facilities to work with but now there has been a great improvement, we now have State of Art Facilities.

We have been able to move from obscurity to limelight, many now appreciate what we do and want to work with us one way or the other.

Considering the prevailing circumstances in Nigeria and harsh economic situations, what are the efforts made to ensure the sustainability of these young businesses?

We anticipate some of these challenges; we keep them abreast of the trends in the market. We cannot keep dwelling on the negative factors because there will always be an opportunity in a disadvantageous situation.

For example, COVID-19 is a pandemic but it has made many to become wealthy. Therefore, every challenge comes with an innate opportunity which is why we train our students to think not just outside the box but without the box.

We train them to discern the opportunities that would make them excel and identify what to leverage on. We are partnering with some industry players to enable mentorship for the student and also trying to partner with the Bank of  Agriculture for further empowerment. We teach our students that they do not have to start big, they could start small and with continuous effort, they will grow.

In spite of challenges, we strive to deliver functional education to our students. The difference between our students and others is that they do not only know theories but they can interpret and even roll up their sleeves to install equipments when they need to. We train students who can serve as “plug and play” in their industries.