A call has gone out to education policy makers and curriculum planners in the country to integrate entrepreneurial training in educational curricular as this will help in combating the menace of unemployment in the Nigerian society.
The Vice-Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Professor Eyitope Ogunbodede, and Professor Rasaq Olatunde Kalilu made the call while speaking in separate capacities as chief host and guest lecturer respectively at the 50 + 1 Solo Art Exhibition and Lecture tagged, “My Attempt.”
The exhibition was by Dr. Lanre Idowu of the Department of Educational Technology, Faculty of Education, OAU, Ile-Ife.
First to speak was Ogunbodede who affirmed that the university was in the process of a complete overhaul of the curricular of its various programmes to include entrepreneurial training with special focus on reduction of the rate of unemployment among university graduates in the country.
He further maintained that his administration was planning to reposition the university as 21st Century compliant by integrating entrepreneurial skill acquisition training in the school’s curricular such that no graduate of the university would not have one skill or the other by the end of their stay on campus.
The OAU helmsman disclosed at the event that the authorities had concluded arrangement to open an art gallery for the Department of Fine Art effective from next academic session so that revenue accruing to the department from the gallery could be used to maintain the department.
Addressing art enthusiasts, collectors, friends and colleagues of the exhibitor as well as invited guests, Professor Rasaq Kalilu a former DVC (Lautech) explored the connection between fine art and entrepreneurship in his lecture, submitting that there was no discipline or human endeavour that did not make use of the tenets and principles of fine art, even as he maintained further that there was no limit to what visual art could do, or what it could be applied to.
Kalilu, while admonishing his audience to embrace visual art because of the numerous entrepreneurial trainings inherent in it, emphasised that it could be used to empower many people.
He noted that security issues would abate when people were engaged gainfully.
He therefore called on government to collaborate with corporate organisations and other private individuals already running periodic entrepreneurial skill acquisition programmes in order to widen the scope and extend the programmes to more people in the interest of the peace and security of the society.
Earlier, the exhibitor, Dr. Lanre Idowu, while welcoming all to the event, appreciated them for making out time to attend the exhibition even as he tasked them on the need to embrace the move for sensization on the importance of fine art in tackling unemployment, which he said should be an important take-away from the exhibition.
He encouraged secondary school pupils present to pick interest in fine art as a subject, lamenting the abysmal enrolment in fine art at post primary level.
