ARCON beams searchlight on entrepreneurship education among varsity students

Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria, ARCON has begun the process of entrepreneurship education among university students with its yearly colloquium designed to bridge the town and gown.

At the 2024 colloquium held last week in Lagos, students of six universities engaged in advertising pitch competitions planned to take them through how pitches are conducted to win businesses from clients. The universities are Covenant University, Federal University of Kashere, Ebonyi State University, Rivers State University, and Lagos State University.

Over the years, schools at all levels have been urged to remodel their curriculum to focus more on entrepreneurship education which will encourage students not only to easily adapt to real life situations but to think creatively and quickly develop critical skills such as problem solving leadership and decision making.

It is also believed that “entrepreneurship education also provides students with the confidence and tools needed to pursue their business ideas and take control of their career paths’’.

On the essence of the colloquium, Lekan Fadolapo, the director general of Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria, ARCON said it is to form collaboration between the academia and industry professional, because ‘’any industry that does not bridge the gap between town and the gown will run into crisis’’.

Speaking at the 2024 colloquium, Fadolapo said bringing together academia and practitioners in the advertising and marketing communications industry to brainstorm will ultimately improve the nation’s advertising ecosystem.

He said most times when research was done, the industry, which was supposed to implement the findings, was usually too far removed, hence the need to bridge the gap between the town and gown through the colloquium.

This year’s event has the theme: “Harnessing Emerging Technologies for Sustainable Advertising Education and Professional Excellence in Nigeria”.

Rotimi Olatunji , Chairman of the Journal and Planning Committee, , said that the colloquium would enlighten academics and students on career success requirements in various marketing communication areas amidst evolving global technologies.

He said technology was the driver of development and the synergy was important to ensure that professionals and tertiary institutions were on the same page.

“The goal is that we want to produce graduates who will hit the ground running,” he said.

Umaru Pate, Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Kashere, Gombe State, explained the need to invest in youth education.

Pate, who was chairman of the occasion, said the classroom was supposed to be ahead of the newsroom, but the situation had not been so. He said “We cannot afford to have a digital environment with analogue students,” he said.

In his speech at the event, Mohammed Idris , Minister of Information and National Orientation underscored the essence that the gathering was to explore how the latest technological advancements could be integrated into marketing communications, education and practice.

Also speaking at the event, Tunji Adeyinka, reminded the audience that in recent time digital advertising spend has increased which suggests that businesses need to embrace digital to survive. Marketing communication spend on digital platforms hit N443.3 billion between 2018 and 2023 out of N605.2 billion total spend on all media platforms.