“We don’t want you to go out there looking for a job, we don’t want you to go out jobless. It betrays your training here.”
These were the opening remarks by the Interim Dean of the School of Engineering(SOE), Dr. Abel Ajibesin, to his students at a Town Hall meeting on December 4, 2020.
“The ultimate demand is for you to be creators of jobs. Create jobs for people, be an employer. That is why we have lots of schemes designed for that.”
At the event, the Dean briefed students about the SOE’s vision to groom well-rounded students versed in fields outside their core studies. He said students need to acquire five minds and four quotients: the intelligence quotient, emotional quotient, social quotient, and adversity quotient.
“We are grooming you to be leaders in not just Nigeria, but world leaders… “When you observe these five minds and these four quotients, you are not just an engineer, you become a leader. As an engineer, don’t forget, these five minds are important for you to be great: The Discipline mind, Synthesizing mind, Creating mind, Respecting mind, and Ethical mind.”
He itemized steps that students need to take to become creators of jobs.
“Move from intelligence, go into researching, from research to innovation through your ideas, then patent your idea, and also commercialize your idea, and then create jobs for people. That is our ultimate goal for you.”
For students who may prefer to work for establishments, he shared guidelines for collaborations with existing organizations.
“We are already strategizing to bridge that gap between industry and academia. It has been a wide gap. We know what the industry needs. We are trying to create a specialized skill course for you.”
At the meeting, students had an opportunity to interact with other faculty members and administrative staff. They addressed their concerns in a question and answer session.
The SoE Curriculum Coordinator, Dr. Victoria Adams, stressed the role of mathematics in the profession. While she defines an engineer’s role to be focused on designing, validating designs, and ensuring functionality & application, she said having a degree in engineering does not qualify one as becoming a full-fledged engineer.
“You can’t have the engineer prefix added to your name unless you are registered. Even after graduation. Mathematics is also a requirement. Having a degree in Engineering is just the starting point."
Responding to a question by second-year Electrical-Electronics Engineering major, Emmanuel BASK-Aryedun, program chair, Dr. Abubakar Sadiq Hussaini (ASH), said students need commitment and principles to become professional engineers. As a practical field of study, the expectation is that one need not wait to get a job “…so when you graduate, you can be self-employed.”
Dr. ASH as well stressed the need for students to be focused on their studies especially mathematics as a core subject.
“If you don’t know the maths, it will be difficult to understand. Once you get the maths the other courses will be a little bit easier.”
Greatly concerned with community impact, Assistant Professor of Engineering, Dr. Charles Nche, said it is not too early for students to start thinking about problems in their communities. “An engineer solves society’s problems. When you leave here, we expect that you will contribute to society.”
Also responding to questions, Engr Emmanuel Nicholas, said engineering is not an easy course. “Nobody will lower the standard to accommodate a lazy student. In other words, it is a course for a disciplined and serious student. It is not an impossible task. It is difficult but running away from engineering because it is difficult will be a dishonor to parents who brought you here and paid for school fees to ensure that you graduate and make them proud.”
Reported by Omorogbe Omoroguiwa