…As BU holds BIV Commercialisation Summit

By Adesina Wahab
The Vice Chancellor/ President, Babcock University, Ilishan Remo, Ogun State, Prof. Afolarin Ojewole, has said universities must be prepared for how economies in the 21st Century evolve because things are changing at a speed that will catch the unprepared unawares.
He also said today’s economies evolve without waiting for permission from anybody.
Ojewole stated this during the Babcock Innovation Ventures Commercialisation Summit.
“The economies of the twenty-first century are not waiting for permission from universities to evolve. Artificial intelligence is restructuring entire industries. Digital infrastructure is redefining how nations compete. The global innovation economy does not reward institutions for what they know; it rewards them for what they build, what they deploy, and what they bring to market.
“The question before every serious university today is not whether it has excellent faculty or rigorous curricula, those are necessary conditions, not sufficient ones. The question is: does this institution have a structured pathway to translate its intellectual capital into ventures, products, and solutions that create economic and societal value?
“That question is the reason we are all gathered here this morning. And the answer, Babcock University’s answer, is what we are formally activating today.
“BIV is not a startup incubator, though incubation is one of its functions. It is not a technology lab, though technology is central to its operation. It is not an entrepreneurship programme, though it develops entrepreneurs.
BIV is a university-wide commercialization and venture development framework. It is the institutional architecture that transforms how Babcock University engages with the innovation economy. It integrates four critical layers that, until now, have operated largely in isolation: our academic systems, our research and innovation infrastructure, our entrepreneurship development capacity, and our industry and capital engagement pathways.
“When these layers operate in silos, the university produces knowledge. When they operate as an integrated system, the university produces ventures, solutions, and economic impact. BIV is that system.
At its core, BIV operates through seven service pillars: Idea Incubation, for early-stage support with problem validation and prototype development. Startup Acceleration, for growth-focused ventures ready for market strategy and investor readiness.
“An AI and Digital Innovation Lab, providing advanced computing resources and digital prototyping capabilities. Mentorship and Advisory Network, drawing from academia, industry, and the entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Funding and Investment Access, connecting ventures to angel investors, venture capital, and innovation grants.
“Legal, Governance, and IP Support, ensuring intellectual property protection and regulatory compliance. Industry Collaboration and Pilot Opportunities, creating strategic partnerships for validation and early market access. The venture development pathway is structured and deliberate: from Discovery, where problems and research insights are identified, through Validation, Incubation, and Acceleration, to Scale and Impact, where ventures grow through industry collaboration and capital access.
“And it is governed. This is not a loose initiative driven by enthusiasm alone. BIV has a Board with defined terms of reference. It has phase-based deliverables. It has stage-gate reviews. It has financial accountability mechanisms. Every naira committed to this initiative has a line of reporting attached to it. Every participant has a role with measurable outputs. This is what institutional seriousness looks like.”
In his remarks, the Co-Chair, BIV Board, Dr. Raymond Okoro, said the day marked a defining moment in how innovation is positioned in BU.
“Over the years, the university has built a strong foundation of academic excellence, rigorous research, and intellectual contribution impact that continues to shape knowledge and society.
“What Babcock Innovation & Ventures (BIV) represents is the next layer of that strength: a deliberate expansion from knowledge creation to structured commercialization, where research is not only published, but translated into real-world solutions and scalable impact.
BIV is not an event. It is not a conventional programme. It is an institutional platform designed to move ideas from concept to
deployment, from theory to market, and from intellectual effort to measurable impact. At its core, BIV introduces a simple but powerful operating principle: We solve real problems within Babcock first and then scale those solutions beyond the university.”
In her presentation, Ms Nicky Verd from South Africa, who spoke on the impact of Artificial Intelligence, AI, on work, said AI is not just one narrative, not waiting for late adopter, adding that ignorance is also no longer an excuse.
Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu, opined that some people are afraid of technology because of the effects of its misuse.
He, however, noted that AI plus human is better that human alone, and that AI would make most human endeavours easier to do.
Arvind Ravishunkar from the United States, described AI as a general purpose technology aiding education ,health and many areas of human activities.