The management of James Hope University has expressed confidence in securing accreditation from the National Universities Commission for three new postgraduate programmes.
Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Olu Akinkugbe, spoke while receiving an NUC accreditation team at the varsity’s campus at Lekki, Lagos, on Monday.
The university is seeking accreditation for FinTech and Analytics; Innovation, Intrapreneurship and Entrepreneurship; and Economic Development and Policy Analysis.
Speaking, the varsity VC said the programmes for which accreditation was sought were part of efforts to bridge skills gaps in Nigeria’s education sector.
He said the institution was positioning itself as a skills-driven postgraduate university focused on innovation, entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence and digital transformation.
Akinkugbe said the institution was optimistic of securing approval for the new programmes because of its available facilities and academic resources.
“We are hopeful of 99 per cent acceptance by the NUC accreditation team. We have the resources and facilities,” he said.
The vice-chancellor stated that the university was intentionally designed to move beyond conventional certificate-based education to a skills-to-employment model.
“We didn’t start the business school for the sake of another business school. In this AI world, the digital transformation and FinTech world, students are concerned with employability and return on innovation.
“They don’t come here because they want pieces of paper that we call certificates. The world is moving from knowledge-based to skills-based learning, immersive and experiential learning. That is why we set up our school — skills to employability, skills to employment pipeline,” he said.
He identified skills mismatch as one of the major challenges facing Nigeria’s education sector, saying the institution’s programmes were designed to address the gap.
“That is why we have FinTech, Analytics, Innovation, Intrapreneurship and Entrepreneurship,” he added.
Akinkugbe disclosed that the university was also planning international partnerships for the development of a FilmTech laboratory.
“We are planning to build a FilmTech lab in partnership with the University of Toronto and the University of Texas,” he said.
He added that the institution was also planning to establish a School of Computing and Robotics, with programmes in AI, robotics, computer studies and human resource management expected to commence next year.
“That is the reality of today, and we can’t run away from it. That will be our next school,” he said.
He noted that the institution, which formally commenced academic activities in 2023 after obtaining its licence in April 2021, started with only Master of Business Administration programmes before expanding into specialised master’s degrees in 2024.
“We started in August 2021 and got our licence in April 2021. I started by being the founding dean of the business school,” he said.
He added, “We formally started in 2023 and began admitting students. We had only the MBA programme in 2023 – Executive MBA, Full-Time MBA and Flexible MBA.
“Then in 2024, we added specialised master’s programmes in five areas.”
According to him, the university had already graduated its first MBA set, while another batch would graduate this year alongside the pioneer students in the specialised master’s programmes.
“The usual process is that NUC comes for resource verification. You can’t start until you convince NUC that you have the resources. They came for the MBA in 2023 and for the master’s programmes in 2024, and we were able to start them,” he explained.
Speaking on future expansion plans, the vice-chancellor said the university intended to begin undergraduate programmes by 2028 at its Agbor, Delta State campus.
“We have a big campus in Agbor, Delta State, and where they vacated here in Lagos is where we want to use for undergraduate programmes.
“It will be a community-centred university. We want to start with agriculture and health sciences, with farmers being trained and health sciences providing health services,” he said.
He explained that the undergraduate curriculum would focus on community-relevant projects while maintaining global competitiveness.
“The undergraduates will be doing community-relevant projects in agriculture and health sciences so that we position ourselves for community and global relevance,” Akinkugbe added.
In a letter read ahead of the NUC visit, the university registrar, Dr Achugamonu Uzoma, described the accreditation exercise as a major step in the institution’s development.
“The accreditation exercise represents a significant milestone in the university’s continued growth and development as a transformative postgraduate institution.
“This vision reflects our unwavering commitment to academic excellence, quality assurance, innovation and the provision of world-class education in Nigeria,” the letter read.
Credit: ThePunch
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