Perez Brisibe – Abraka
Vice Chancellor of the Delta State University, DELSU, Prof. Victor Peretomode, has lamented the continuous dearth in business education in Nigeria stressing that “the government of Nigeria does not take the education sector serious.”
The VC represented by the university’s Deputy Vice Chancellor, Administration, Prof S. O Asagba, stated this yesterday during his keynote address at the opening ceremony of the 31st annual national conference of the Association of Business Educators of Nigeria, ABEN with the theme, “Business Education: Issues, Trends and Strategies.”
The university don who bagged the ABEN national merit award alongside Senator James Manager, Hon. Ossai Nicholas Ossai of the House of Representatives and Dr Josephine Anene-Okeakwa, cited inadequate investment by stakeholders as one of the major challenges bedevilling business education in the country.
Others according to him include; Shortage of qualified business education processional teachers, poor government investment in education, standardized performance evaluation system and poor administration of business education programmes.
He said: “It is disheartening to note that the government of Nigeria does not take the education sector serious and that is why the budget allocation to the sector is always very small compared to other sectors.
“The occasional increments being experienced has not been significant and are not evenly distributed, especially where preference is given to science related subjects.”
Speaking earlier in his welcome address, ABEN national chairman, Prof. Chika Ile, explained that the mandate of business education in Nigeria is to ensure that students are guided through carefully planned experiences that offer them the opportunity to master the knowledge, skill and competency needed to succeed in business.
He said: “We, as business educators have it as a duty to reinvent ourselves and ensure that our products are in the lead in the competitiveness sweeping through the world today.”
In their remarks, Delta State ABEN chairman, Dr James Okoro and Chairman, conference opening ceremony, Prof Emperor Kpangban, urged members of the association to be at the forefront to advocate strategies for solving educational problems in the country.”
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