Nigeria-India: exchange entrepreneur skills for job creation

Minister of Education and Chairperson of the E-9 Ministers, (Middle) other ministers and heads of delegation from other E-9 nations

Nigeria-India exchange entrepreneural skills for job creation
Godwin Ukaa, Abuja

The Nigerian Government is considering an exchange program with the Indira Gandhi National Open University of India towards enhancing entrepreneurial skills for job creation.

The Minister of Education, Professor Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i said this at the Indira Gandhi Open University, India when she visited the Vice Chancellor Professor V. N. Rajasekharan Pillai.

She noted that Nigeria would like to tap from the Indian experience that led to the improved skills acquisition and high youth enrolment in the schools in India.

Partnership

Professor Rufa’i stressed that the two countries should begin to partner towards making Nigeria’s National Open University to learn from the Indian experience on ways of improving Entrepreneurial skills acquisition courses and programmes.

“A meeting should be arranged between Nigeria and Indian open universities to identify areas of common interests towards meeting the Nigeria’s Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan on jobs creation”

The Vice Chancellor, Indira Gandhi Open University, Prof. Rajasekharan Pillai said the Open University had been able to enroll three point eight million students and with the potentials of securing about 47% of employment opportunity in the country.

He appealed for an effective collaboration between Nigeria and India in the areas of skills acquisition respect based on their peculiar advantages and challenges of population growth and joblessness of the two countries.

Departments

The Vice Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria, Professor Vincent Tenebe said relevant departments in the open universities of the two countries will be meeting in November to harmonize and strategize areas of interest and collaboration and hoped to upgrade the Nigeria’s Open University to meet Indian standard in future.

Meanwhile, The Nigerian Minister of Education, Professor Rufa’i also visited the National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development in Noida, India where another partnership initiative was discussed geared towards job creation and skills acquisition between Nigeria and India.

Intervention

The Director of Behavioral Science in the Entrepreneurship and small business development institute, India, Rita Sengupta said the institute was prepared to partner with Nigeria in the areas of entrepreneurship and small business where they were able to add about 37% employment to the Indian economy through their intervention.

The Nigerian Education Minister immediately mandated the National Open University of Nigeria’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Tenebe to include the institute in the planned partnership initiative meant for skills acquisition for jobs creation meeting scheduled for November this year with the Indira Gandhi Open University for an all inclusive approach.

This is in line with Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda implementation strategy for education and wealth creation.

Iheanacho