Fashola Seeks Review Of Tertiary Institutions Courses

Gov. Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State said on Saturday that programmes and courses of the country’s tertiary institutions were obsolete and should be reviewed to meet present challenges.

Fashola made the observation, while addressing about 5,000 youths at a forum in Oregun, Ikeja.

The programme, organised by the Lagos State Ignite Enterprise and Empowerment Project and After-school Graduate Development Centre (AGDC), was aimed at sensitising the youth on how to solve unemployment problems.

Fashola said that most courses currently being taught in the nation’s higher institutions were designed by the colonial masters to advance their own economic gains.

“To man such business setups, the colonial masters needed lawyers, accountants, clerks to oversee them and that was the purpose they designed those programmes for.

“Today’s economy requires service and skills to add value to whatever is produced,” he said.

He added that the Governors’ Forum was currently looking at the loopholes in the country’s education and would soon suggest a way forward.

Fashola advised the youth to look beyond white collar jobs and be adaptive to vocational and skill jobs that were relevant to the Nigerian nation of today.

“It is ironic that there is a high rate of youth unemployment in the economy whereas there are high demands in waste management, transportation, construction industries and other areas.

“You should forget that you do not want your hands to be dirty because it is where there is dirt that money is found,” he said.

Fashola said that because Nigerians did not want to dirty their hands, many giant construction companies operating in the country were owned by foreigners who were willing to embrace dirt.

“Lagos State and Nigeria currently have deficit in infrastructural development and for the next 25 years, Nigeria would be involved in infrastructural development.

“That would be a lucrative area to look into by our youths,” he said.

Fashola reminded the youth that although they required academic certificates, it was not the certificates that would bring them meal tickets.

“Rather it is meant to prepare you on how to behave, reason well and interact with others in the future,” he said.

The governor enjoined the youth to prepare their minds to learn something new outside what they had been taught.