Chairman of Governing Council of Yaba College of Technology, Lagos , Professor ‘Funsho Afolabi has emphasized the importance of skills development and interactive session as a tool of addressing societal challenges other than theoretical knowledge.
He made the submission at the college maiden event tagged ‘A Day with our Industry Partners’, an industry-academia dialogue and for mentorship innovative organized 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’, fostering academia-industry collaboration
“We must align with Yabatech’s agenda, which complements the Presidential Renewed Hope Agenda and revitalizes earlier initiatives”, he stated
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 theorization.
Yaba College of Technology, according to him, has been mostly rated as 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 on these achievements and avoid crashing into deformable barriers that would not allow the college to continue to come first, hence the need to continue 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. Engr. Ibraheem Abdul explained that the motive behind the programme was 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’.
He stressed the importance of collaboration and linkages with industries, so as to sustain the shared responsibilities of building a workforce that will make global standard in competence, creativity and innovation
Dr. Abdul encouraged the partners to continue engaging the college towards jointly developing required solutions for both the industry and academia.
The institution according to him, is looking for internship opportunities, research collaborations for the college
‘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"; he added.
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 described the event as a testament to the college shared vision of transforming education, research and skill development to meet global standards.
"At Yaba College of Technology, we recognize 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”,he stated
While deliberating on ways to strengthen the existing partnerships, Dr. Ajala 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 among staff and students that submitted innovative project out of which five emerged tops comprising three staff and two students of the college.
Cash award prizes ranging from two hundred thousand to five hundred thousand were presented to the winners for their outstanding performance in the industry related projects.
Dr. Oloketuyi S. who came first worked on local charcoal stove received ₦500,000, while Dr. Ofodile Lauretta that came second worked on cooking utensils and got a cash prize of ₦300,000 and the third position went to Mr. Chinatoye Simeon with cash gift of ₦200,000.Others were outstanding two students who participated but came fourth and fifth are Olorunfemi Emmanuel and Olatunbosun Oluwatofunmi and were presented cash prize of ₦150,000 and ₦ 100,000 respectively.
Dr. Okolie Peter, the Director, Centre for Technology Marketing and Products Developments presented the awardees to the governing council and management, stating the prospect lying ahead for the mass production of the winning product.He solicited for funds and sponsors for the products.
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