Freshmen admitted into Obong University have been advised to pay active attention to skills they will be taught during entrepreneurship classes and practical sessions as this was a deliberate effort by the University management to prepare them for the new structure and demands of the labour market which places job creators at a vantage point over job seekers.
The Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Udoudo Ekanemesang, who handed down the advice to freshmen at the 10th Matriculation Ceremony of the institution held at the University Campus in Obong Ntak, told the new students that with the soaring statistics of unemployment in the country, it was imperative for students in institutions of higher learning to show sufficient interest in acquiring skills that will increase their worth and chances of success after they have graduated from the University.
Prof. Ekanemesang noted that the complexity in today’s world of work greatly favours graduates who fully develop their critical thinking and problem-solving abilities which he stressed are the strong points of entrepreneurs.
The Vice Chancellor said “Apart from the efforts we have made to ensure that you are taught all the skills that will help you succeed in the different programmes you have enrolled for, the Management of Obong University has also made deliberate and sustainable efforts to equip our center of Entrepreneurial Studies with the needed manpower and facilities necessary for you to succeed.
“It is our expectation that you will reciprocate Management’s efforts by taking every contact hour you have for the purpose of learning entrepreneurship seriously.
“The reason for the introduction entrepreneurship into the curriculum of Nigerian universities was to arm students with the skills that will make them self-reliant and to structure their thought patterns in the direction of providing jobs at the completion of their degree programmes.”
He also used the occasion to remind the freshmen of the need to shun unethical practices and live within the dictates of the school’s regulations, warning that management would not hesitate to wield the big stick against non-conformists.
Highpoint of the event was the administration of the Matriculation pledge on the freshmen admitted into the 10 programmes offered at the University.
