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Havilla University has named business mogul and chairman/CEO of Gosima Group, Dr Gideon Chidiebere Osi, as a member of its Governing Council.
The investiture rite was performed by the founder and Chancellor of the University, Hon. Jones A.O. Tangban, alongside the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Adewale Banjo, and other members of the academia at a eremony on Friday in Abuja.
The chancellor congratulated Osi as new member of the governing ouncil, adding that his membership would bring good fortune for the University.
“Based on your antecedents, you have shown competence and character, so we strongly believe that your wealth of experience and character will be significantly felt in Havilla University,” Tangban said.
In his acceptance speech, Osi expressed gratitude to the leadership of Havilla University for considering him worthy to serve on its Governing Council.
He, therefore, pledged to use his wealth of experience as a seasoned entrepreneur and leader as contributions towards repositioning the institution as a premier private university in Cross River State of Nigeria.
“I accept this nomination with all my heart and I appreciate Havilla University for finding me worthy to serve in the council of this great institution.
“I look forward to meeting all members of the council and for us to put heads together to chart a new course and make the difference.
“My coming on board comes with a lot of responsibilities, not just for myself alone but for the university; it is a private university and we are going to do it privately well.
“Havilla University should search for the best, the best in human resources, lecturers, management and to produce the best students who will be the best in what they do,” he said.
Osi, a seasoned entrepreneur, however, stressed the need to make entrepreneurship studies a compulsory component of all courses of studies in the University, adding that it will inspire undergraduates to seek to become creators and not seekers of job on graduation from school.
He noted that government alone cannot create jobs for teeming Nigerian youths, as they needed to become self-reliant by acquiring entrepreneurial skills that are relevant to their course of study while still in school.
“Entrepreneurship, is one of the fundamental support bases of every society that will succeed, so we must build an institution that will have an entrepreneur mindset in students from the day of resumption.
“Every student should understand that what they are studying have an entrepreneurial components, so if you are reading any course, you must ask yourself what is your place in the market place.
“From the beginning, students should be aligned with mentors they can link up with, so that during holidays, they do not just go home to waste time on their phones and social media.
“So when they go home, they link up with their mentors and they spend holidays with companies, so they will prepare their minds on their place in the labour market and what they want to become.
“So we imbibe in them attributes of entrepreneurs, the ability to take calculated risk, ability to make sacrifices, ability to build something from nothing.
“As a University, we must have a council that will ensure this is carried out so that at the end of the day, we will have graduates that create jobs and not job seekers,” Osi stated.