How Nile University is leveraging academic innovation to build human capital – Businessday NG

Many Nigerian students are annually denied the opportunity to gain admission into higher institutions in Africa’s biggest economy by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) due to insufficient capacity by government-owned tertiary institutions to admit as many students as those applying to be admitted.

This lack of capacity in Nigeria’s public tertiary schools, pundits say, can be attributed to poor investment in infrastructure, research and other academic activities.

This is coupled with the unrelenting industrial actions by academic staff of public universities, which have been contributing to the inability of public tertiary institutions to provide students with the right opportunity to learn.

Pundits however believed that any country that is serious about enabling the future generation to be competitive globally, must ensure its tertiary institutions are well funded to not only build the needed educational infrastructure but also engage good hands to groom the students.

To bridge the gaps in Nigeria’s tertiary educational system, private universities that understand the role of quality infrastructure in human capacity development, started sprouting out. Such is the Nile University of Nigeria.

Located in Abuja, Nile is a private multidisciplinary university that was established in 2009 with a sustainable strategy that is underscored by its continued investments in private education.

The school has shown commitment to building future professionals and leaders that can thrive and positively impact the world.

BusinessDay Sunday understands that the Abuja-based institution is leveraging academic innovation, state-of-the-art facilities, and a talented team of faculty to groom students.

By joining the Honoris United Universities network on July 2, 2020, the citadel of learning witnessed accelerated growth which is reflected in robust capital investments designed to support the university’s academic credentials and bolster its standing as one of Nigeria’s foremost private institutions.

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First, the management of the school established a Career Services Center, which became one of the few fully functional Career Services Centers in any university in Nigeria. The Center provides students with the requisite support to gain the needed skills to thrive in a dynamic and digital world.

Secondly, the school introduced the startup initiative revamp, which enabled it to update and modernise the way it provides students and alumni a platform to pitch, secure funding and get mentorship support for their business ideas in order to scale up.

The school also introduced the virtual internships programme, an online internship programme that enables students to gain crucial international work experience through placements at one of 3,500 companies in over 70 countries.

To increase the employability of its graduates, the institution of learning also introduced a skills certificate programme, which is a future-oriented virtual programme that trains students on the eight most in-demand skills in the 21st-century workplace.

Since the acquisition of Nile University by Honoris United Universities, the largest pan-African private higher education network with 15 institutions across 10 African countries, there have been positive impacts on the University, according to Dilli Dogo, the vice-chancellor of the Nile University of Nigeria.

Dogo said that the acquisition has helped to increase infrastructural development, improve staff development and training as well as increase the enrollment of students across many programmes.

While expressing delight at the number and quality of students graduating from the institution in recent times, he said the University trains its students to impact society, which resonates with Honoris United University’s motto, ‘education for impact.’

Dogo said the University presently has five faculties and one college of health sciences comprising three faculties compared to the days before its affiliation with the Honoris Network.

Explaining further, Dogo said: “In 2009, we started with 34 students but by 2020, we had a little over 3,000. Today, we now have over 6,000 students with increased facilities, infrastructural and manpower development, and retraining of our academics. There has also been a surge in the enrollment of students in the school.

To continue to strengthen the value chain of quality of learning in Nigeria, the Nile University of Nigeria said it is determined to drive high-quality education which is crucial for economic growth, innovation, and job creation.

There is also no doubt that through the Honoris approach, the school works to meet the increasing demand of Nigerian families by advancing access to high-demand professions and skills such as in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and in allied health.