By Dayo Adesulu

The Rector, Yaba College of Technology, Dr. (Mrs.) Margaret Ladipo has pledged to promote innovation and intellectual properties of staff and students of the college in support of entrepreneurial education at every opportunity.

Dr. (Mrs.) Margaret Ladipo

Speaking at the 2011 Entrepreneurial lecture and Exhibition of Products, themed, Entrepreneurship: Key to National Economic Development organized by the college Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (CED), at the Yusuf Grillo Auditorium of the institution; Dr. Ladipo said that in the competitive era of globalization, entrepreneurial development is a key to individual survival.

The Rector stated that the relationship between the college and the national office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion is cordial and waxing stronger on patenting of students’ projects.

She added that for a product to be patented, it must be new with industrial application and must be entrepreneurial which has been given the college a sense of direction and purpose of promoting entrepreneurial education.

According to her, entrepreneurial education in higher institutions is a policy of the Federal government whereby the entrepreneurial policy was conceptualized for tertiary institutions in Nigeria with a specific directive to management of tertiary institutions to integrate into their mainstream curricula, programmes that will make vocational education an integral part of undergraduate training.

She informed the gathering that the lectures and exhibition are practical ways to achieving the college vision of being a leading polytechnic in Africa.

“In 2003, Yaba College of Technology established the CED as a deliberate effort to prepare our undergraduate students and re-orientate their minds to become job creators at the end of their studies rather than job seekers and to foster an institutional culture of entrepreneurship of both staff and students; she said.

In a paper on the theme presented by the Managing Director of Amari Confectionary Limited, Mrs. Julia Shinaba, described economic development as an increase in the standard of living in a nation’s population with sustained growth from a simple low economy.

She disclosed that if the quality of life could be improved, economic development would be enhanced as its scope includes the process and policies by which a nation improves the economic, political and social well beings of its people.

Mrs Shianaba said that statistics showed that Nigerian Youths accounts for 50 percent of Nigeria’s population with high rate of unemployment of 19.7 percent with 71 percent of students who graduated from Nigeria universities, polytechnics and colleges of education in the last six years and more are yet to be gainfully employed.

She insisted that increased rate of unemployment and the need to reverse the ugly economic trend requires national and international interventions and the exploration of entrepreneurial potentials towards economic development, she advocated.

The MD averred that there is need to embrace global change towards transformation in economic, political and environmental life of the country with the promotion and fostering of entrepreneurial culture and mindset.

According to Shianaba, in building entrepreneurial capacity to a greater level, economic vitality of Nigeria largely depends on the overall level of entrepreneurial capacity based on its ability to create rapidly growing small and medium scale enterprises.

For survival, she recommended that there should to have mentors from the private, public sectors and Chambers of Commerce and Industry within and outside the country for partnership towards instilling and deepening the culture of investment amongst young people.