AGO-IWOYE, OGUN STATE— The Vice-Chancellor of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Teacher Ayodeji Agboola, has asserted that the survival of the Nigerian university system depends on its shift from producing job candidates to supporting a brand-new generation of innovators.
Speaking on Friday, March 27, 2026, at the maiden Future Tech Conference, themed “Next Frontier: Structure Africa’s Digital Future,” the Vice-Chancellor lauded the event as a landmark achievement entirely conceptualised and performed by the students.
Teacher Agboola explained the initiative as a “transformative shift,” signalling that the university’s long-term method to internalise an entrepreneurial mindset is starting to bear fruit.
The Three-Pronged Technique: Education, Employability, Employer
The Vice-Chancellor revealed that the organization has actually moved away from the traditional design of “churning out graduates for non-existent jobs.” Rather, OOU has embraced a rigorous three-pillar framework designed to make sure that every student leaves the school with a competitive edge in the worldwide digital economy. The “EEE” Framework:
- Education: Supplying a strong theoretical structure in core disciplines.
- Employability: Equipping students with 21st-century practical skills, certifications, and soft abilities.
- Employer: Mentoring students to transform regional challenges into organization solutions, efficiently ending up being job creators.
“We realised that there is no chance anybody can end up being an employer of labour without being competent,” Agboola specified, keeping in mind that this vision, which began 4 years back, recently made the university a competitive grant from the African Union Commission.
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Student-Led Development and Intellectual Property
The conference featured high-level discussions from the students themselves, showcasing the depth of digital literacy on campus.
Ayomide Oduneye, a 400-level Chemical Science trainee, led a session on Web3 and Decentralised Technologies, while 500-level Law student Agbolade David provided critical insights into Copyright (IP) protection for young tech founders.
External industry leaders, including Luther Lawoyin, CEO of PricePally, and Paul Jatau, challenged the individuals to move from problems to options, advising them to view Nigeria’s special difficulties as a fertile ground for scalable ventures.
Facilities Boost: Campus-Wide Fibre Optics
In a significant announcement concerning the university’s digital backbone, Teacher Agboola disclosed that OOU would be completely powered by fibre-optic web connection by the end of April 2026.
The project, being executed in partnership with Globacom, will extend direct fiber links to all campus buildings.
A State of mind of Solutions
The Vice-Chancellor expressed surprise and pride that the students organised the prominent conference individually, involving stakeholders like the Minister of Communications, Development, and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani.
He emphasised that the objective is to sustain this momentum till the OOU brand name ends up being synonymous with technology-driven advancement in Africa.
The event concluded with a call to trainees to utilize the inbound high-speed infrastructure to develop “future-proof” companies that can contend from Ago-Iwoye to the worldwide market.