By Adekunle Williams and Oluwatope Lawanson
Omniversity Imperial College has conferred honourary fellowships, practice-based qualifications, and academic titles on individuals across various sectors.
The President, Omniversity Imperial College, Prof. Tokunbo Akeredolu-Ale, made this known at the African Innovation Workshop 2025 and ISO-Aligned Practice Qualifications Conferment in Lagos on Friday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop had the theme: “Revolutionising Nigeria’s Education and Workforce Development”.
He said: “We have 17 honourary fellowship awardees, 13 showed up in persons, four professors of practice and two doctors of practice.
“The awardees are, Dr Dakuku Peterside, Mrs Janet Onaolapo, Dr Folarin Afelumo, Dr Wasiu Taiwo, Mr Fedelis Nworu, Mr Olawanle Moronkeji, Mr Omotade Oke-Egbe.
“Others are Mr Lanre Popoola, Ali Hasbini, Gong Rui Jie, Dr Adebowale Omotosho, Mr Kehinde Ogunlade, Onuche Itodo, Jonathan Onigbinde, Mr Alex Ebebeli, Dr Taiwo Akinola and Mr Wasiu Taiwo.
“The four professors of practice awardees are Capt. Oladeji Folayan, Prof. Wole Osatimeyin, Dr Gabriel Oyediji, Dr Ibukunoluwa Oremidu, while the two Doctors in practice are: Dr Abubakar Aliyu, Dr Stephen Oniya.
Akeredolu-Ale, who is also the college’s Chairman, Board of Trustees, said there was hope for the evaluation of practice knowledge in the country as opposed to the classrooms teaching alone.
“We hope to use this medium to evaluate and validate the knowledge, education, experience and skills they have so they can match it with the practice framework, such that they can be awarded for the skills and practice.”
Akeredolu-Ale said the workshop was one of the many African innovative workshops that they intended to do and also the practice conferment 2025.
He said the university’s aim was to focus on practice qualifications as supposed to the theoretical knowledge and academic education, adding that it wanted to streamline and differentiate education from academics.
Akeredolu-Ale urged the Minister of Education on the need to partner with the college to entrench practice qualifications in the education framework.
According to him, this is such that Nigeria and indeed Africa can take its rightful place by taking practice qualifications more seriously.
He explained that it was where true development stemmed from, not theoretical knowledge.
The Guest Lecturer, a Professor of Practice in Strategy Management in Omniversity Imperial College, Prof. Francis Toromade, said the college was trying to promote recognition of skills that add value.
Toromade, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, said when people were certificated in some profession they still needed to be certified, citing professions such as accounting, banking, insurance, law.
“However, we have people that have been certified yet they cannot defend that certificate so the ultimate life is the certification.
”This means the value you have added to yourself which you can transfer to the organisation you are working for.
“Therefore, it is about certification,” he said.
Toromade urged the federal and state governments to embrace this initiative, funding and accreditation of prior learning, funds skills recognition, partner with industries.
He also urged the government not to rely on certificates alone, with regard to the SIWES, the government should seriously enforce it.
The professor said in the university system, people in the practice could be brought into the university system to tell them the practical aspects not what they were studying alone.
He said what could work was different from what they were studying in the university system.
Speaking on behalf of the awardees, Peterside, a former Director General, NIMASA, urged the Federal Government to make it mandatory for tertiary institutions to combine practice with theoretical knowledge for undergraduates before going to the labour market. (NAN) (www.nanews.ng)
Edited by Kevin Okunzuwa
