Opinion: As UI School of Business debuts

University of Ibadan (UI), Nigeria’s Premier University is thinking
out of the box.  The 65-year old institution is becoming more
creative in order to effectively blend with the current trend in this
knowledge driven global economy.  In being creative, the
university is beginning to take a second look at most of its courses
that have been in existence since 1948 when the university was
established in relation with the modern demands.
It was George Kneller, author of Existentialism and Education who
noted that “creativity consists largely of rearranging what we know
in order to find out what we do not know.  Hence, to think
creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what we normally
take for granted”.  This is exactly the scenario in UI.  Many things
that had hitherto been taken for granted are now receiving serious
intellectual interrogation with a view to conforming to the
contemporary needs.
The recently created and inaugurated University of Ibadan School
of Business (UISB), where regular and contemporary, short-time
courses, customized workshops, consultancy and research for
various organizations and companies will be in the offering is one
of the fall outs of a new vision.  It is on record that UI is reputed for
teaching only Economics in the area of business and commercial
studies even when younger universities are offering Accountancy,
Banking and Finance, Business Administration among others.
Many candidates who would have loved to have their First Degree
in UI have gone to other universities simply because their preferred
courses of study are not available in the University of their First
Choice (UI)
However, with the new UISB, headed by a first class Professor of
Economics, Prof. Ademola Ariyo who is the Board Chairman, and
the First Female Professor of Computer Science/Economics in
Africa, Prof. Adenike Osofisan as the Director, a paradigm shift that
will provide and build leadership for current business challenges
has berthed in Ibadan. The philosophy of the UISB is to provide an
education that will satisfy today’s public and private economic
requirements. It offers a platform for post-experience learning, as
well as exposure to the use of basic economic, management, and
technical tools intertwined with case studies. The teaching and
learning process will according to the mandate, be delivered in the
open, distant and blended modes.  This is with a view to ensuring
that learning is nurtured in a flexible and versatile manner. The
real life intervention by students will be encouraged to develop
problem solving capacities and capabilities.
Indeed, the new School of Business offers opportunities in
academic and professional Masters of Business Administrations for
both full-time and part-time MBA candidates.  It also offers short-
term certificate courses as well as specific courses that meet special
needs within the private and public sectors.  The school therefore
intends to collaborate with both private and public sectors of the
African economy to solve both management and leadership
problems.
Since what one earns, in today’s knowledge based economy,
depends largely on what one learns, the UISB has also determined
to run short term programmes targeted at corporate and working
professionals to upgrade knowledge and professional skills in order
to avoid obsolescence in this highly dynamic technological world.
Certainly, every activity of the school will be information
technology driven.
Of course, before getting to this stage, the university, being
meticulous as it is, had sent members of the school implementation
committee to five selected Business schools in the United Kingdom
and the United States of America for a study tour.  The committee
visited London Business School, Columbia Business School, New
York and Kellogg Business School, North-Western University,
Chicago.  They also visited Howard University Business School and
University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA.
The intention was to ensure that the best global practices in
Business education are made available in Nigeria. Besides, as they
say, “knowledge is a mimic creation, not even when Thomas Edison
has counseled that there is always a way to do it better if only one
can find it. The University of Ibadan has seemingly found a way of
running a school of Business with the forms and structures that are
enviably made available. Already, the university has set aside a
whopping N350 million for the initial take off.  After about six
decades of its existence, the management of the university felt it
was high time the institution extends its rich intellectual heritage
towards the growth and development of a virile, private sector, not
only in Nigeria, but also the whole of Africa.
This, the university intends to achieve through supply of new breed,
first rate economic policy, and corporate managers, as well as
entrepreneurs that are able and willing to ensure the accelerated
development of Nigeria in particular and Africa in general, under
the auspices of a private sector driven policy framework.  This, it
seeks to achieve through the offering of internationally competitive
programmes and products in business education, research and
management. From available facts, the Vice Chancellor of the
University, Prof. Isaac Folorunso Adewole richly deserves public
commendation for his enthusiasm in ensuring that the UISB takes
off.  Prof. Adewole who believes that other people must light their
candle from the knowledge base of the university has always been
saying that Ibadan must keep adding value to the society.
Inaugurating the UISB Board recently in Lagos, the VC who called
on private sector players to key into the new vision.
Although there is still a long distant to destination as billions of
Naira required to build main building, library, lecture theatre as
well as other external works remain elusive, short time
programmes and consultancy as well as research for willing
organizations and companies have begun in earnest. Pioneering
staff members of the UISB including Mr. Lucky Igonor deserve
kudos for their commitment and sacrifice in laying the foundation
for the new School of Business under the supervision of the “Iron
Lady”, Prof. Osofisan, the Director. It might not be too much to
provide a Business School that meets international standard.  There
is no point travelling abroad for a course that could be taken in
Nigeria.  If the standard is solid, the growing intelligence gap will
be filled as the boundaries of human knowledge gets expanded
towards uplifting the society.