Don seeks establishment of full-blown entrepreneurial varsities

Forum 2 years ago

Don seeks establishment of full-blown entrepreneurial varsities

A professor of Business Education at the Rivers State University, Prof. Margarete Akpomi, has called for the establishment of full-blown entrepreneurship universities in the country.

Prof. Akpomi made the call while delivering an inaugural lecture themed, ‘Towards The Entrepreneurial University: Rivers State University in Focus’, held in Port Harcourt on Wednesday evening.

She said the income structure of Nigerian Universities which was anchored mainly on subvention, school fees, grants, donations rent, research fund, and internally generated revenue, do not guarantee financial stability for expanded development.

Akpomi noted that for that reason, it was almost a must to invest in a business to cope with enormous expenditure in the university system, adding that subvention which is periodic, constitutes the largest pool and when it was unavailable, crises such as non-payment of salaries and inability to discharge financial obligations ensue’.

“An Entrepreneurial University, apart from the academic endeavours, stimulates bolsters the economic wellbeing of the university community and immediate environment and boosts the micro economy of the state and nation.

“It is therefore imperative that the academics, entrepreneurs and students must form a triangular chain the advance inventive and business endeavours, she added.

Prof. Akpomi listed sources of micro-economic ventures on the campus and related sources of revenue to include restaurants and shopping complexes and other small restaurants and ‘mama puts’ which pay rent to the university, banks which operate there also pay rents based on Memorandum of Understanding with the school.

Others, she said include IT operators on the campus, Telecommunication Mast installed in the premises, the Faculty of Agriculture farm, among others.

The don further said the Rivers State University was establishing thriving cattle, pigs birds and fish farms among others, just as the management was also resuscitating its water factory to boost internally generated revenue which she said were lofty ideas, saying, “We look forward to beholding them”.

Prof. Akpomi said having a bakery on the campus with over 30,000 students and residents, bread production could be a big money-spinner.

In his remarks, Vice-Chancellor of the University who also doubled as the chairman of the occasion Prof. Nlerum Okobgbule commended prof. Margarete Akpomi for the lecture and praised her for opening the eyes of the university community to wider business perspectives.