No fewer than 8,000 graduands converged on the auditorium of Yaba College of Technology, YABATECH, Lagos recently. Even though they have all completed their programmes, they are faced with uncertain future – shrinking opportunities, whether in securing paid jobs or exploring generational wealth that entrepreneurship always offers.
Conscious of this challenge, the college came up with its 37th convocation lecture, which the Chairman, Governing Council of the College, Prof. Funso Afolabi, said, was “ both timely and profoundly strategic.” Its essence too, according to him, was to prepare the graduands on how they could navigate the challenge of shrinking opportunities.
This perspective shaped the theme of the convocation lecture titled: Entrepreneurship Development in the Digital Age: Leveraging Technology for Job Creation and Economic Growth. Afolabi justified its focus, which according to him, became imperative at a time when digital transformation “is redefining global competitiveness, reshaping labour markets, and expanding the frontiers of innovation.”
While the Chairman, Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Prof. Taiwo Oyedele, chaired the event, the Leader of the 10th Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, delivered the lecture purely from the institutional perspective. Each of them provided deep insight into the deployment of new technologies for the development of startup businesses that can catalyse exponential economic growth.
Delivering the lecture, Bamidele first canvassed greater investments in digital technologies and entrepreneurial training as measures to address the country’s youth unemployment rate. He pointed out the trends in different parts of the world, whether in the established or emerging economies. The trends, he said, show that it is no longer tenable for governments “to provide white-collar jobs for graduates from higher institutions.”
He, therefore, highlighted the emergence of the digital economy, which he said, new technologies and digital skills had been driving. He explained the roles of the younger generations, especially the new graduates in driving the country’s digital economy through new technologies and requisite skills in blockchain, data analytics, artificial intelligence, cyber security, web development, content marketing, cloud computing, immersive technologies and other forms of digital marketing.
The Senate Leader emphasised the centrality of digital skills “to the world of the 21st Century.” He argued that countries seeking economic growth and sustainability in the present world should prioritise the need to import innovative knowledge and digital skills for the advantage of their people, especially the youth population.”
He also pointed out that it “is no longer realistic the world over for governments to provide white-collar jobs for all the young graduates from the universities, polytechnics, technical colleges and other tertiary institutions. This is no longer fashionable, neither is it sustainable. Governments have now assumed the positions of creating environments that can enable creativity, innovation and invention.”
Bamidele noted that governments “are seriously looking for ways to prune down the cost of governance and taking bold measures to drive innovations through synergy with private sectors. This is evident in the recent resolve of the National Assembly to enact the Nigeria Data Protection Commission Act, 2025 to reflect new realities in the country’s digital environment.”
He pointed out the epicentre of this legislation, which he said, was designed to shape the country’s digital economy; strengthen its data protection and ensure sustained regulatory oversight in the digital space. The review of the Act, according to him, became crucial in defining the future relationship between the government, tech companies and Nigerians.
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Bamidele, also, explained the strategic national significance of the 2024 National Digital Economy and E-governance Act. Enacted by the 10th National Assembly, the Senate Leader said the legislation, which came to force in July 2024, attested to the readiness of the Federal Government to take advantage of the new skills and technologies generously offered.
He explained how the Act effectively “defines the country’s digital economic environment. Its mandates primarily include enhancing the use of digital technology to grow Nigeria’s economy; creating an enabling environment for fair competition to promote innovation, growth, and competitiveness for the Nigerian Digital Economy and enabling the digital transformation of public institutions and government processes for efficient and effective service delivery, among others.”
With these reforms, he encouraged the new graduates to embrace the new technologies and acquire digital skills, pointing out that the new wave of technological revolution and the attendant emergence of digital economies around the globe indicated that countries, determined to survive the prevailing global economic realities, should prioritise the impartation of innovative knowledge and technical skills in their young people.
“This is the secret behind the exponential growth of emerging economies in Asia. To attain a similar feat in Nigeria, our policymakers and state actors must prioritise entrepreneurship training. We must also incorporate the development of technical skills, creative innovation, digital education, problem-solving skills, the imparting of managerial capacity and interpersonal relationship development in our educational curricula from the primary to tertiary levels.
“This is the future we all envisage. This is the future we are looking forward to. And Nigeria, Africa’s leading nation in all ramification, cannot afford to be left behind,” Bamidele challenged both the academics and the new graduates. He recalled the essence of establishing Yaba College of Technology, which according to him, was to provide full-time and part- time training in technology, applied science, commerce and management, agricultural production and distribution; and research.
He observed that the priority which the institution attached to the development of technology, creative innovation and entrepreneurship training could not be overemphasized. For him, it is an eloquent testimony to the depth of the vision of past leaders who played a vital role in its establishment. He, however, challenged the leadership of the college to come up with more initiatives that would revolutionise the country’s digital education and transformation.
He admitted that the public institutions could not drive the process alone. He, thus, highlighted the role of the private sector in building capacities required for harnessing the gains of the digital economy. He called on the private sector “to focus on mentorship and networking by pairing upcoming entrepreneurs with experienced ones; creating peer communities; facilitating access to markets.”
In his welcome address, the Rector of the Institution, Dr. Ibraheem Abdul, said the lecture captured the essence of the transitioning of Yaba College of Technology to a specialized University of Technology and Vocational Training. And the essence, he said, is to fill the skill gaps in the country’s digital space.
He said: “We are not only preparing our graduates for the future of work; we are equipping them to shape it. The digital age demands creators, innovators, and problem-solvers, and today’s conversation challenges all of us to harness emerging technologies for sustainable economic growth.
“Our guest lecturer has uniquely provided insights into what the legislature has done so that the young Nigerians can unlock opportunities in AI, blockchain, digital manufacturing, fintech, cloud computing, immersive technologies, and emerging knowledge industries. His insights will further energise our resolve to produce graduates who are not job seekers, but job creators—leaders who convert challenges into economic value and deploy technology as a vehicle for national development.”
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/12/at-yabatech-bamidele-inspires-graduates-to-embrace-digital-skills-for-job-creation/
