The Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), Professor Adetunji Olaopa, has charged Nigerian universities to realign their mandates towards producing graduates who are not only educated but employable and socially responsible.
Olaopa gave the charge while delivering the 33rd Convocation Lecture of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State, where he questioned the effectiveness of the nation’s higher education system in preparing young people for the realities of the labour market.
He noted that a growing number of Nigerian youths are not merely unemployed but increasingly unemployable, a trend he said calls for urgent institutional introspection.
“The university system must go beyond producing skilled workers to developing fully formed human beings and responsible citizens capable of shaping society,” Olaopa said.
Commending FUNAAB’s management for the honour of inviting him, the FCSC chairman described the institution as a specialised university with a strategic role in Nigeria’s socio-economic prosperity. He queried the extent to which universities of agriculture have deployed their theoretical, practical and policy capacities to meaningfully fix the national economy and transform the agricultural value chain.
Olaopa stressed that modern universities must integrate cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, drones, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and internet-driven platforms to power smart farming systems and innovative agribusiness models. According to him, sustainability-driven research, innovation hubs and community-oriented solutions are essential for tackling real-time agricultural challenges, especially in rural communities.
He also advocated deeper university autonomy to enable institutions generate initiatives within their constitutional mandate, supported by improved funding mechanisms through university–industry collaboration and public–private partnerships. In addition, he called for more sustainable approaches to managing industrial relations within the academic environment.
Olaopa maintained that universities remain critical drivers of Nigeria’s economic growth and national development, insisting that by prioritising employability, innovation and relevance, higher institutions can significantly contribute to the country’s long-term prosperity.
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