…unveils the institution’s sixth one-day vice-chancellor
Bowen University, Iwo, in Osun State, has advocated for the establishment of on-campus start-up incubation hubs to tackle youth unemployment in Nigeria and curb the surging wave of economic emigration among youngsters.
Tega Abiri, a 300-level Computer Science student at the university, who emerged as the 2025 One-Day vice-chancellor of the institution, made the call during the institution’s One-Day Management Team (ODMT) programme, when he said that on-campus startup incubation hubs will empower students with entrepreneurial ambitions to become job creators and not job seekers.
Abiri, addressing journalists on Wednesday during the programme, described himself as both a student and an entrepreneur, emphasising that establishing such a hub would drive innovation and counter the growing wave of economic emigration among Nigerian youth.
“I’m not just a student leader, I’m an entrepreneur. I love the idea of business, and what I wanted was to allow Bowen University students to do that.
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“So my major agenda was the incubation hub. And what that hub generally is, is to help students who have business ideas or startup ideas go from infancy to execution within, like a semester or two, by providing them access to mentorship from alumni bodies, even funding as well. So that’s the major thing that I wanted, the university management to consider,” he said.
The one-day vice-chancellor said the major reason why people want to leave the country is because of the minimal opportunities that they see in Nigeria.
“The mindset people should have is such that you can do very well for yourself here in Nigeria. And now that I’m given the opportunity, I’m able to at least kick start something on that, people with startup ideas, businesses, and all the rest can get something, and begin to execute what they have planned,” he noted.
Abiri emphasised that he would love to see Nigerian youth exhibiting the mindset that they can do something for themselves.
“You can produce a future that you want to have, just giving the right resources and then just reframing your mindset, you know, like that would probably help our society move forward,” he added.
Besides, he stressed the importance of building strong internal and external relationships as essential for effective administration.
He explained that before taking office, the team circulated forms to gather student feedback, and one of the ideas sourced from the feedback was that students’ Continuous Assessment (CA) scores should be available before exams, so they could better gauge their academic standing.
Abiri, flanked by his management team, also called for competence-based political leadership selection in Nigeria, citing the rigorous process that led to their emergence as a model for national politics.
According to him, “Leadership should not just be about votes. There should be a system that ensures all final candidates are competent. That’s how we can trust that anyone who emerges can move the country forward.”
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The Computer Science student, and others, emerged as the best after a rigorous month-long selection process involving over 50 applicants that included computer-based tests, book reviews, interviews, and a campus-wide student vote.
Abiri and his management team also endorsed the digitisation of past examination questions into a centralised academic resource hub for students to assist in preparing for upcoming examinations.
The ODMT initiative, introduced by Bowen University to groom future leaders, is in its sixth year and has now evolved from the one-day vice-chancellor model into a full-fledged management simulation.
The management team includes Adelowo Oluwatumininu, deputy vice-chancellor, 400-level Biochemistry students, and Ikpo Lotechukwu, registrar, a 400-level Economics student.
Others are Adesipe Deborah, bursar, a 400-level Accounting student; Nasara Okorie, librarian, a 400-level Physiology student; and Alade Erioluwanimi, chaplain, a 400-level Economics student.
