You don’t need to cut corners to get to the top, says Lasu VC

Success Damian:
 

Vice Chancellor, Lagos State University (Lasu) Prof, Olanrewaju Fagbohun, has warned students and indeed Nigerians against cutting corners in order to get to the top.

Prof. Fagbohun sounded the warning at the institution’s 3^rd Distinguished Lecture which was held at the main campus of the institution on Tuesday.

With the theme “Market Imperatives: Re-thinking Soft Skills in a Highly Competitive World,” the Vice Chancellor disclosed that the essence of bringing those who have distinguished themselves in various human endeavour was for the students to see that it is possible to make it in life without cutting corners. “It is part of the tradition of the Lagos State University now, to have every year, the Distinguished Speaker series. And what we do is to bring in role models, such that they would come and interface our students. We don’t just want to teach them about role model, we want to show them examples of people who have lived Spartan lives, so that they would know that you don’t need to cut corners to achieve your goals, you don’t need to cut corners to get to the top,” Fagbohun stated.

He maintained that the world has gone very competitive and requires something extra-ordinary to excel “The world is a very competitive one now, with globalization, whether you are a student of Lagos State University,  or University of Lagos or Ibadan, you will  be competing with those who finished at Unilag, MIT, and they are not going to draw a distinction that you finished in this, but they will say you finished from the university. So we must imbue our students with all the skills that they require.

“Soft skills are essential, It is not enough for you to have knowledge of your field, it is not enough for you to have book knowledge,  you must also have, what are these soft skills, you must possess for you to succeed? And you could hear the different perspectives the speakers of today took it, and you can also see that the chairman, she was in her element, in letting the students know the truth, that succeeding in life depends on how you live your life now,” the VC stressed.

Speaking on SMEs, the VC said, the institution has consistently been engaged with that, “As a matter of fact, we have a centre for entrepreneurship, and beyond that, we have brought in a number of SMEs, 52 of them, that are working with our institution, and what we do is that we interface our students with these SMEs, because if you recall what the Deputy Governor said recently, SMEs employ 80% of the workforce, the multinationals will employ the remaining 20%, so we are engaging actively with SMEs so that the students who want to be entrepreneurs, they  can come to terms with what is required.

“What we are doing is multifaceted; knowledge of today is not what you can compartmentalized. It must be multifaceted and that is the approach we are given it at the Lagos State University.  You can see our faculty members, members of Management, everybody was there because everybody is running an inclusive thing,“ he said.

On intention to teach soft skills in the institution, he answered that the university already has something in the system to manage that, “We have a career development centre, the career development centre is running 24/7 ad teaches soft skills, but that is online.  So what we have done today is to complement that, in now bringing individuals, everybody knows Justice Amina Augie, she has lived a Spartan life, she taught me in Law School, she has not changed one bit, we want our students to see that kind of thing.” Fagbohun stated.

Speakers at the Lecture include Mrs. Funke Adekoya (SAN), who spoke on ‘Is Honesty Still the Best Policy; Mr. Adetokunbo Abiru, Group Managing Director of Polaris Bank, he spoke on the hallmarks of success which include leadership, teamwork, communication, problem solving, work ethics; while Bountiful Adelanwa, a Social Worker and Entrepreneurship Expert maintained that hard skill will get you the job but soft skill will make you stay and excel in the job.

Chairperson of the day was Honourable Justice Amina Augie of the Supreme Court.