Career Fair: Graduating Students Tasked on Soft Skills, Structure 

Funmi Ogundare 

The Head of Talent Acquisition, Wema Bank, Mrs. Olajumoke Malachi, has called on graduating students to arm themselves with soft skills and  imbibe a ‘can-do spirit; and a sense of order and structure so as to make a difference in their chosen field of endeavor.

Speaking at the  opening of the 2023  Career Week held recently, for graduating students of Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo Ogun state, Malachi noted that what would set them apart is their emotional intelligence, staying agile, taking initiatives and never being afraid to learn from others and building relationships.

According to her, “Acquiring new skills, building excellent communication skills, not being rude to people, being a team player were the keys that would set you apart from the crowd.”

Malachi who was guest speaker at the programme, stated that the God-factor, apart from helping her to get a degree that is well accepted, it also helped to open the doors to more degrees. 

In his remarks, the President/Vice Chancellor,  Prof. Ademola Tayo, advised the  students to use the opportunity of the career fair to interact with employers of labour and careerists that would teach them how to position themselves and be competitive in the labour market.

He recalled that he never had such opportunity during his own time, saying, “the career fair could be the time God wants to position employers of labour that may eventually need your services. Gone are the days when employers of labour go after job seekers as they are now the ones who are after employers due to the saturated labour market.” 

During the programme the students were taught how to write CV, become a volunteer and ensure that  employers of labour are looking out for them.

The VC advised them to make good use of the opportunity given and  listen to those who have walked this path before them.

Prof Tayo noted that even though they may come out with a first class, 2.1 or 2.2 what matters most is their emotional quotient, the soft skills they have that would put food on their tables and not necessarily the academic qualification.

In another development, a Professor of African History and History of Religious Education, Abiodun Adesegun has called for a thorough overhaul of public education in Africa through the use of Seventh – day Adventist (SDA) educational enterprise model.

Prof. Adesegun made the call while delivering the 42nd inaugural lecture of Babcock University.

In his paper, ‘Seventh-day Adventist Higher Educational Enterprise in Africa: Cleaning the Augean Stable in Public Education’, he said the components of SDA education model were time- tested and true, adding that it stands the chance of offering the needed succour to an almost comatose public education.

According to him, “SDA educational enterprise model has a lot of ingredients from which administrators of schools across Africa could borrow to revitalise the system. 

“It is time to clean the Augean stable by adopting and adapting approaches that could make positive impact on the state of things across the continent.”

The Don stated that  the SDA education, which is based on the Bible which is the word of God, is a distinctive and unique approach to reality, truth and value.