How Nigeria’s education system can produce industry-relevant workforce, by Wellspring University VC

Professor Isaac Rotimi Ajayi is the Vice Chancellor of Wellspring University in Benin City, the Edo State capital. In this interview with Edward Oseghe, Professor Ajayi speaks on how Nigeria’s educational system can better serve the evolving needs of the marketplace, moves to ease affordability of learning and the value of integrity in all facets of life, among other matters. Excerpts:

What is the peculiar value proposition of Wellspring University, what does it set out to do different from other Nigerian universities?

In Wellspring University, we are concerned and focused about the future of our students and so, principally we are trying to do our best to prepare them for that future. And you know the world is changing so rapidly that you just need to be well equipped if you want to survive in the world of the future. So, we are concerned and what we are doing is to make our students future-fit.

That comes with first of all equipping them with intellectual knowledge which is basic and then also developing their leadership ability. We also are concerned about innovation and creativity. We try to promote that because in the world of the future you need to be creative and innovative. We also know the value of digital skills because this is an era of digital technology so, we are also ensuring that they are well equipped with essential digital skills that they need to survive and to thrive. The idea is to make them holistically prepared to face the future. That is what really distinguishes us from other universities.

When was Wellspring University established and how has it fared so far in your estimation and in the estimation of external bodies?

Wellspring University was established in 2009 and now we are about 16 years old. The university has run since that inception to date and has graduated about thirteen sets and these graduates are positioned in various sectors of the global economy. Normally a university is rated by the products. Our products speak to the quality of our education here. Many of these graduates are well positioned and they are making very meaningful contributions. We are proud of them. Some of them are in paid employment, others are entrepreneurs and successful entrepreneurs at that. Time will not allow me to run through the list. I know of one of them in the garment industry for instance, who is making very good progress. We have many of them also who have proceeded to some very prestigious universities abroad to acquire higher degrees. We have many of them who have acquired their PhDs.

So, the university has been running and we have grown, not just in terms of student numbers. We started with a modest number and now we have a good number of students. We are also growing in course offerings. We started with just 7 courses and now we have 24 course offerings. We are constantly updating our curricula and this whole idea of producing future-fit graduates makes us to rejig our curricula to ensure that it is something that can really equip our students with the requisite knowledge that they need to function in the future. So, the university has made quite tremendous progress so far.