A legislative move by the Senate for the establishment of the Federal University of Agriculture and Entrepreneurship in Bama, Borno States, got overwhelming support from all stakeholders during a public hearing held on Monday in Abuja.
At the public hearing organised by the Senate Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFund, the sponsor of the bill, Senator Kaka Shehu Lawan (APC, Borno Central), said the sad trend of the quest for white-collar jobs with the attendant unemployment rate underscores the need for a specialised university with a focus on agriculture and entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurship education, according to him, is a form of education that seeks to provide knowledge, skills, attitude and motivation to students for entrepreneurial success in various facets of human endeavour by equipping them with the ability to seek investment opportunities and maximise returns from those investments.
“The proposed university, which focuses on agriculture and entrepreneurship, will provide a platform for youths to transform opportunities into business ventures and, accordingly, manage those ventures to become a medium for job creation for themselves and others,” he stressed.
Senator Kaka added that Nigeria needs the proposed university to tackle the rising rate of youth unemployment, which is second to that of South Africa.
“Disheartening is the fact that, according to the Spectator Index (a global youth unemployment index), Nigeria has an astronomical 53 per cent youth unemployment rate, which places it second to only South Africa, which has 61 per cent youth unemployment.
“These worrisome statistics have negative effects on the nation generally, as they lead to a geometric rise in social vices and crimes in the society, all in the quest for survival.
“The required solution, however, lies in the proposed university that focuses on agriculture and entrepreneurship education, which prepares the youths to be responsible and enterprising,” the lawmaker said.
Earlier in his welcome address, the chairman of the committee, Senator Mohammed Muntari Dandutse, said the proposed specialised university, when established, would be the first of its kind in Africa.
He said, “The proposed Entrepreneurship University in the area of agriculture, when established, would raise a generation of job creators and not job seekers.”
Borno State governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum and the Shehu of Bama, Dr Ibn Umar Kyari El-Kanemi, among others, thanked the Senate for the legislative proposal and promised to leverage the planned institution to turn around the fortunes of the state and her people.