This news was Coined from the tribune Nigeria Dec 1, 2022

THE pro-chancellor of the Alex Ekwueme University, Emeritus Professor Nimi Briggs, has challenged universities in Nigeria to live up to expectations of the society by producing graduates that can compete favourably with their counterparts in the world.

He spoke in Abuja during the inaugural ‘Gown-to-Town’ symposium organised by the Abuja chapter of the University of Port-Harcourt Alumni Association.

The former vice chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt, Nimi Briggs, urged Nigerian universities to justify their existence, saying universities are established with great expectations from the people.

According to him, some of the expectations include production of manpower for the nation, conduction of cutting-age research, identifying new ways of doing things and impacting the environment in which they find themselves.

He said: “Looking at all these, it is no wonder that universities are currently being challenged to justify their existence. There are ways in which universities can justify their existence.

“Instead of churning out graduates who end up roaming the streets, we can ensure that graduates are sufficiently endowed. We need to ask ourselves, are we doing the right thing? Are we on the right course?”

President of the chapter, Phil Okoroafor, in his remarks noted that the association decided to convene the ‘gown-to-town’ symposium in order to enhance the marketplace readiness of graduates of the institution.

“Our gathering today is our first step in the direction of our relevance to our esteemed alma mater, the University of Port Harcourt,” Okoroafor said.

He said the envisioned ‘gown to town’ symposium was designed as the association’s modest contribution towards the effort of enhancing the marketplace-readiness of the graduates of the institution.

“Our objective, as expressed in the simplicity of the name we have given the symposium, is to help bridge the gap between academia and industry through programmes that will promote entrepreneurship and creative thinking among our graduates,” he said.

Also speaking at the event, the governorship candidate for Abia State under the Labour Party, Dr Alex Otti decried the poor state of Nigerian universities.

Citing the 2022 Times ranking for universities, Otti noted that Nigerian universities were “moving in the wrong direction.”