African universities and the industrial sector were unanimous last week on how researchers in the university system should generate ideas and convert such research efforts to industrial growth and development. Researchers were also challenged to rise and collaborate with one another in research development in this age of globalisation since development could only be achieved through the harmonisation of science and technology as well as education and industrial policies. These were part of the views of experts and senior academics at the African University Day forum organised at the University of Ilorin. According to them,  universities and industries should develop a synergy and partner in order to advances research development. In his opening remarks, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Is-haq Oloyede, who was represented by his Deputy  in charge of Management Services, Professor Albert Olayemi, described the day as another milestone in the annals of the institution and an important day in the university system. He insisted that such a forum is necessary especially as Africa faces the challenges of poverty, hunger and diseases, saying though the role of universities is to generate and impart knowledge, the missing link confronting many African universities is that while graduates have knowledge, they lack the necessary skills to drive such knowledge. This situation, Oloyede added, propelled the universities to develop a Research and Development (R & D) unit to address the yawning gap in the university development. Describing the resource persons as experienced scholars and experts, the Vice-Chancellor enjoined participants to transfer the new skills acquired at the event to their different areas of study, because knowledge without application is defective. In his lead paper: “Research-Industry Linkage: Critical Issues and Strategies for Action,” the Director General/Chief Executive of the National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM), Federal Ministry of Science and Technology (FMST), Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Dr. Willie Siyanbola, spoke of the need for the countries to improve their capacity to produce and enhance knowledge. Siyanbola, who regretted that universities and industry hardly interacted in the past, stressed that peculiarity of  the day necessitated the need for university-industry interaction to generate and apply new knowledge under the frame work of National Innovation Systems (NIS). He encouraged researchers to patent their inventions before publishing them in journals and deplored the low level of interaction between the university system and industry in the country. Towards a viable synergy between them, the lecturer, however, urged researchers to conduct market-driven researches while industries should key into the inventions of the university. Siyanbola, who advocated the establishment and strengthening of brokerage/interface organisations, said new knowledge was desirable in moving the continent forward. Professor Joseph Morakinyo, whose paper is on “African Universities: Linkages with the Productive Sector”, said: “It is becoming increasingly clear that the higher educational sector and the industrial sector need each other in this emerging world of knowledge economy and technology based businesses.” Soliciting  the building of mutual cooperation and confidence between the two, Morakinyo, the Director of Technical and Entrepreneurship Centre of the university, noted that linkages between universities and the industry was no longer a new phenomenal. He identified such partnership as the driving force behind the industrial growth of many developed nations, saying the training offered in the university system should be relevant to the needs of the society, even as he enjoined universities to emphasise the market value of different disciplines and specialties. “University should pay more attention to human capital development which aimed at acquiring contemporary skills through in-serve training and short courses for junior and senior academics,” he said.
According to the Director of Planning at the National Board for Technology Incubation and Linkage at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States, Professor Olusinmibo Boroffice, said for universities to move forward, there must be productive research and not mere basic research.
Lauding UNILORIN on the quality of  academic leadership the university parades, recalled that the interaction between the past and current Vice-Chancellors of the university have left indelible imprints on her mind about the commitment of the university to the promotion of research and scholarship, which is the foundation of development. In his remarks, the Director of the National Centre for Hydro Power Research and Development, University of Ilorin, Professor Bolaji Sule, noted that six skills would be required by Engineering graduates in the 21st Century if they are to compete globally.  These, he listed as including analytical, practical, computer IT, communication and management skills. On entrepreneurial skills, Sule, the former Dean of Engineering and Technology Faculty of the university spoke of quality needed by graduates to function adequately. These, he said include ability to plan, coordinate and organise effectively, possess financial numeracy, be adaptive to changes, innovative in thinking and ideas, willingness  and competitiveness. Professor  T.S. Ibiyemi wondered that university products were not supposed to be job seekers, but job creators. The  researcher and STEP-B research recipient, attributed flayed a situation where graduates seek jobs to the failure of lecturers and the university system. He noted that for the university system to attain its full potential, the system, which comprises a model of four components, education and research, industry, government and finance, has to be fully functional. At the forum were principal officers of the university, representatives of Kwara State Government and other institutions such as ARMTI, Kwara State Polytechnic, CAILS, National Council for Agricultural Mechanisation, Kwara State University, Agricultural Development Programme, lecturers, technologists and university administrators.