The University of Abuja, recently renamed Yakubu Gowon University, has launched what it describes as Africa’s first Enterprise University, an initiative designed to shift higher education from theoretical instruction toward practical entrepreneurship, innovation, research commercialisation and enterprise creation.
Unveiled under the theme “Innovative Agriculture as a Tool for Sustainable Enterprise Growth and Youth Empowerment,” the programme was organised by the university’s Centre for Entrepreneurship Development and Students Mentorship (CEDSM) and drew representatives from government, development partners, academia and the private sector.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Hakeem Babatunde Fawehinmi called the launch a significant milestone in the institution’s effort to make education more responsive to societal and economic needs. He said the university holds vast potential across science, technology, agriculture, and the social and management sciences to generate solutions for Nigeria’s development challenges. The Enterprise University, he added, would provide a platform for students to translate classroom knowledge into practical businesses capable of creating value. On behalf of the institution, Fawehinmi pledged support for ten students who present convincing concept notes.
CEDSM Director Professor Adeniran Lateef Ariyo said the initiative was established to bridge the gap between academic learning and marketplace demands. He noted that the university possesses considerable intellectual resources capable of solving real-world problems and creating businesses, and that the Enterprise University would offer a structured pathway to turn such knowledge into sustainable enterprises. The goal, he said, is to move students from knowledge acquisition to innovation, enterprise development and social impact.
Representing the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Kingsley Tochukwu Udeh, Deputy Director Okoro Nkechinyere said the model aligns with federal efforts to promote innovation, industrialisation, domestic production and job creation. She argued that modern universities must evolve beyond traditional teaching and research to become institutions where research is converted into innovation, innovation into commercialisation, and commercialisation into enterprises and jobs. Nigeria, she said, can no longer afford research findings that remain confined to academic publications.
Delivering the keynote address, Markus Wagner, Country Director of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in Nigeria and ECOWAS, was represented by Baba Femi Oyederin, Team Lead for the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem under GIZ’s Sustainable and Inclusive Economic Development and Decent Employment (SEDIN) programme. Oyederin said the initiative could reshape entrepreneurship education in Nigeria, where micro, small and medium enterprises play a significant role in the Economy and labour market. While many Nigerian universities have introduced entrepreneurship courses, he said, there is a need to shift from teaching entrepreneurship as a theoretical subject to creating environments where students can actually practise it.
The launch signals a broader push to redefine the role of universities in Africa’s largest economy, positioning them as active drivers of enterprise formation rather than passive conduits of knowledge. As the programme develops, its impact on graduate employability and economic diversification will be closely watched by policymakers and education stakeholders across the continent.
