By Dayo Adesulu

CHAIRMAN, Board of Trustees, Pacific Schools, Mr Remi Omosowon has urged students to prepare for their future, saying “the education that teaches us to look down on blue collar job is not a sustainable education.”

He said due to the need for survival of Nigeria’s teeming population, Nigerian universities must begin to restructure the curriculum to meet the needs of national development.

At the 2016 Pacific Comprehensive College Valedictory service in Lagos, Omosowon said: “The education we need must be the one that is relevant to our needs,” explaining that Nigeria is a huge market with  possibilities in agriculture, solid minerals, agro-based industries, engineering and infrastructure development, building technology, power engineering, industrial development and arts which students can tap into. “A private university in Nigeria is already pioneering efforts in this direction. More universities must embrace education that is relevant to national development,” he said.

According to him, reliance on government job and pensions thereafter is no longer sustainable. “This generation can no longer rely on conventional wisdom to solve the problems of the information age.”

While pointing out the need for students to prepare themselves for future challenges, he said about 27 states out of 36 representing 75% of all states are unable to pay salaries. “What this suggests is imminent retrenchment. The old people in the system keep finding ways of adjusting their ages downwards. When they refuse to leave, how can the new generation get jobs? Today’s generation must learn to be self-reliant by becoming skilled in trade, art, sport, commerce and embrace entrepreneurship.

In the midst of global economy meltdown, Omosowon told the graduating students that only the discerning and adaptive of humans will survive.“You must fight the enemy call average. The average person cannot go far in today’s world. You must be the best in whatever you do.

Nigeria is full of opportunities, but only those who position themselves most appropriately will benefit from these opportunities.”