Mrs Oyedunni Arulogun, a Professor of Public Health, is the Director, University of Ibadan Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. In this interview with SULAIMON OLANREWAJU, she speaks about the importance of the World Entrepreneurship Day (WED) celebrated last Saturday and the importance of entrepreneurship and innovation to national development.
You are a Professor of Public Health and the Director of University of Ibadan Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. How does Public Health relate with Entrepreneurship and Innovation?
To answer this question we need to understand the two fields that have been brought together. Public health is the science of protecting the safety and improving the health of communities through education, policy making and research for disease and injury prevention. Traditionally, the definition of entrepreneurship has been limited to: starting a new business, scaling for profit and creating business capital and so on. But the new definition of entrepreneurship is about innovation; about seeing problems as opportunities, and about changing the world.
You would agree with me that to protect the safety and improve health of the communities through education, policy, and research, one needs a new mindset, do what is different that would add value to the lives of people. This exactly is the link between the two specialties. I was appointed as the Director for the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation because I hold an adjunct position at the Centre. I have been part of the Centre from the beginning when it started as the University-Private Sector Collaboration (UPSC) Sub-committee of the MacArthur Grant Implementation Committee.
The two terms, entrepreneurship and innovation are often used either interchangeably or side by side as you have them in the name of your Centre. Could you to clarify the difference between entrepreneurship and innovation?
Innovation is part of the continuum called Entrepreneurship. Innovation is the creation, development and implementation of a new product, process or service, with the aim of improving efficiency, effectiveness or competitive advantage. Innovation means coming up with something really new. Innovation is applying your creativity to come up with a unique idea or solution. Entrepreneurship, by contrast, is applying the innovation to bring the ideas to life. So, in other words Innovation is creating something new; it always doesn’t create a business opportunity. Entrepreneurship identifies the opportunities in great innovations and creates opportunity, adds values and keeps the value improving over a period of time.
What is the significance of this year World Entrepreneurs’ Day (WED) that was held on Saturday, 21 August? How would the WED anniversary impact Nigerian youths, especially those who have their own businesses and those who are considering self-employment?
The purpose of World Entrepreneurs’ Day is to create awareness for entrepreneurship, innovation and leadership all over the world. You would agree with me that one of the challenges world over is having leaders who would create a learning organisation, commit themselves to personal mastery, create a shared vision that all would embrace and ensure it is achieved through team work while challenging the preconceived ideas or mental models of the members of the organisation or entity. Celebrating the WED is to continually engage young people to stir up the can-do spirit in them, the need to think beyond the now and look inwards to nurture their dreams and continually ask what values would I be bringing on board or am I reinventing the wheel with of course profitability in view. At this point, I need to state that not all can become entrepreneurs, but all can be entrepreneurial in whatever field or discipline that one finds oneself.
There is rise and rise of entrepreneurship worldwide. Is there a global force that is promoting entrepreneurship?
Yes, there is. This is because of the realisation that for the world to move forward and be sustainable, the key is entrepreneurship that lies with the small and medium enterprises where the bulk of innovators cum entrepreneurs operate. The need to support their development, allowing them to breathe and survive in a conducive environment is the way forward and that is emphasised in the theme for this year’s WED celebration which is “MSMEs: Key to an inclusive and sustainable recovery.”
What is the state of entrepreneurship education and practice in Nigerian today?
For us in Nigeria, we have started the journey but have not gone far. First, there is the need for key players in entrepreneurship education and practice to understand the concept, be committed to its implementation, success and sustainability.
Does the University of Ibadan or the University Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Innovation evaluate the impact of its entrepreneurship courses on its students upon graduation? How many entrepreneurship courses do you offer your undergraduates?
For us at the University of Ibadan, CEI coordinates two courses at the undergraduate level. These are GES 301 and ETR 301. GES 301 – Introduction to Entrepreneurial Skills – is a compulsory entrepreneurship course offered to all students at 300 level. ETR 301 – Basic Entrepreneurship and Innovation – is an elective entrepreneurship course offered to students at 300 level. The course is co-taught with entrepreneurs. Students have access to entrepreneurs who engage them in interactive sessions in the classroom. In addition to networking, students enjoy mentoring services from these entrepreneurs. Students write business plans at the end of the course and viable ones are supported by connecting them to finance. Students understudy businesses in order to practically learn more about these organisations as well as from the entrepreneurs. Career readiness and employability skills were recently added to the course curriculum with the aim of further preparing the students for the world of work.
How much education does a person need to succeed in the practice of entrepreneurship in contemporary world?
An individual does not need highfalutin educational qualifications to be a successful entrepreneur. What is needed more are the soft skills. First and foremost the person must have passion i.e. what drives you? Without passion there can be no enterprise, have ability to spot opportunities, belief in self, be humble, tenacious, be a risk taker, customer oriented, be flexible among other qualities.
Is your Centre into any form of strategic or collaborative partnerships locally or internationally to push back the frontiers of entrepreneurship and innovation?
Yes, the University of Ibadan Centre for entrepreneurship has collaborative partnerships within and outside Nigeria. Some of these include but not limited to the following:
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