The Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Development (CRD) of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria, Professor Sunday Amuseghan, last week, said the Centre has modern and relevant kits, facilities and personnel to impact entrepreneurial and vocational skills.
Professor Amuseghan gave the affirmation while chatting with the crew of the University’s Public Relations Unit in his office.
He disclosed that the Centre has modern teaching aids and facilities to train youths in skills like fashion designing, leather works (shoes, belts, bags etc), hair dressing and barbing, make over and beauty treatments, cake making and confectionary, beads making, and other modern and relevant skills.
He said, “Adekunle Ajasin University has the relevant facilities and manpower that are needed for teaching our students and willing youths from outside the university community entrepreneurial and vocational skills.”
Prof. Amuseghan explained that the mandate of the Centre is essentially to equip the students of the University and willing youths across the state with relevant vocational and entrepreneurship skills and make them self-sustaining and employable in today’s fast-changing work environments.
According to the Director, “The mandate of the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Development is to stimulate the interests of our students and the teeming youths across the state to become entrepreneurs, to activate the entrepreneurial potential in them, to equip them with the basic business and financial skills, and to provide mentoring for them.”
Amuseghan, who lamented that the prevalent youth unemployment is partly rooted in the unemployability and unmarketability of graduates, noted that the Adekunle Ajasin University is arming its own students with relevant academic, vocational and entrepreneurship skills for the challenges that are usually associated with getting employment since some of the skills that are acquired by students while studying in the universities are not relevant to the demands of the labour market.
In his words, ” As a University, we are quick to realise that there is more to the problem of youth unemployment. We also realise that the problem has part of its roots in the unemployability and unmarketability of the graduates and youths, and that is the reason we are leaving no stone unturned in making sure that we arm our students with the relevant alternative skills that will help them to cope with the challenges and dynamics of the labour after graduation.”
Apart from organising workshops and training for students in the various skill-based programmes, the Centre also offers training in fashion designing, leather works (making of shoes, bags, belts), catering services, barbing and hair-dressing, ornaments and beads making among other aspects.