The Chairman of the Governing Council of Yaba College of Technology, Professor Funsho Afolabi, has projected skills development and interactive sessions as tools of addressing societal challenges other than theoretical knowledge.
He made the submission at the college’s maiden: “A Day with our Industry Partners,” an industry-academia dialogue and mentorship.
It was organised by the Centre for Linkages Partnership and International Relations of the college.
Prof. Afolabi described the event as bridging the gap between gown and town and fostering academia-industry collaboration.
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He said: “We must align with Yabatech’s agenda, which complements the Presidential Renewed Hope Agenda and revitalises earlier initiatives.”
He said that the clarion call for more skills development methods and bridging the gap between Gown and Town interrelationships is not to downplay the usefulness of modelling and theorisation.
Yaba College of Technology, according to him, has been mostly rated as a college of technology in Nigeria, with raters using: “Frontal Impact Tests,” which is used to conduct ratings on polytechnics with focus on technical and vocational education and skills development, ICT, Geo-informatics and Geo-Matichs.
The chairman stated that to consolidate these attainments and avoid crashing into deformable barriers that would not allow her to continue to come first, hence, it continues to diversify her focus and making moves to exchange knowledge, innovate, explore partnership, outsource between students, faculty and the industry among others.
Delivering his address, the Rector, Yaba College of Technology, Dr. Ibraheem Abdul, said that the motive behind the programme is to build a stronger academia-industry linkages as “we want a symbiotic relationship whereby our esteemed industry partners can give to us and we give to them”.
Engr. Abdul noted that it is shared responsibilities to build a workforce that will match global standards in competence, creativity and innovation, of which collaborations and linkages are of great importance.
He encouraged the partners to continue engaging the college towards jointly developing required solutions for both the industry and academia.
He declared that the institution is looking for internship opportunities, research collaborations, for the college because “we have staff who are experts in great numbers and are qualified, trained and can also contribute no matter to our own development.
“We want skills, we want mentorship, so that we can create a pathway for our students to gain not just theoretical knowledge but first-hand industry experience before they graduate.”
The Rector noted that curriculum needs to be reviewed to align with the practices in the industry, and rename some of the courses.
The Director, Centre for Linkages, Partnership and Internal Relations, Dr. Moshood Ajala, in his welcome address said the event is a testament to the college shared vision of transforming education, research and skill development to meet global standards.
Ajala said at Yaba College of Technology, “we recognise that strong partnerships are the foundation of progress, we bridge the gap between academia and industry through strategic linkages, foster knowledge exchange and create opportunities for our students”.
While deliberating on ways to strengthen the existing partnerships, he called for possible ways of exploring new avenues for collaboration and also encouraged open dialogue, innovative ideas, and a commitment to actionable outcomes.
“Together, we can enhance capacity building, drive technological advancements and contribute meaningfully to national and global development,” he said.
The event also witnessed the presentation of Award for Innovation to staff and students that submitted innovative projects, out of which five emerged tops, comprising three staff and two students of the college.
Cash award prizes ranging from N200,000 to N500,000 were presented to the winners for their outstanding performance in the industry related projects.
Dr. S. Oloketuyi, who came first, worked on a local charcoal stove and received N500,000, while Dr. Ofodile Lauretta in the second position worked on cooking utensils and got a cash prize of N300,000.
The third position went to Chinatoye Simeon with a cash gift of N200,000.
Others were two outstanding students who participated and fourth and fifth: Olorunfemi Emmanuel and Olatunbosun Oluwatofunmi.
They were presented with cash prizes of N150,000 and N100,000 respectively.
Dr. Okolie Peter, the Director, Centre for Technology Marketing and Products Developments, presented the award recipients to the Governing Council and management, stating the prospect lying ahead for the mass production of the winning product.
Peter solicited for funds and sponsors for the products.
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