Ayo Oyoze Baje
” Our vision is to create platforms where knowledge, leadership, and practical experience converge to inspire excellence “
– Prof.Tokunbo Akeredolu-Ale ( President/ Chairman BOT/ Governing Council of Omniversity Imperial College LCC, Missouri,USA )
Call it the paradox of pedigrees, if you like, and you may not be far from the truth. Yet, it remains an interesting situation for instance, to find the connecting chord amongst the global icons of information technology made up of geniuses such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Evan Williams, Michael Bell, Richard Branson and Steve Jobs( of blessed memory). And what could that be? Despite their high level of creative ingenuity, they are not graduates of Harvard, Oxford universities or any other one for that matter! Simply put, their outstanding academic achievements were fashioned outside the four walls of the citadel of great knowledge.
As it is with them out there, so it has been with our own world-renowned, multiple award-winning icon of African art, Nike Morica Okundaye. The Ogidi-Ijumu, Kogi state-born Owner/Curator of Nike Art Gallery currently boasts attention-grabbing art galleries in Oshogbo, Abuja, Lagos and Ogidi, where she has empowered over 200 women in the skill of making Aso-Oke. All these and more she has achieved without a university degree. And it is interesting to also note that another globally – recognized Nigerian literary giant, Prof. Wole Soyinka, the Nobel Laureate, earned the honour strictly based on his remarkable creative works of writing away from a doctoral program. Both deserve all the accolades, plaudits and honours they have received so far, do they not? Of course, they do.
Of great significance, therefore, is the redefinition of what education truly entails for the 21st century by the wave-making Omniversity Imperial College, LLC, Missouri, USA. As the world’s first and only ISO-certified private institution, it issues ISO-certified practice qualifications to eminently qualified professionals from different fields of human endeavour. By so doing, it is bridging professional practice, innovation, and academic validation with qualifications that reflect real-world excellence.
To match words with action, it recently made history in Nigeria’s decades-long, chequered academic landscape, with the game-changing conferment of Doctor of Practice and Professor of Practice degrees on some multi-talented, highly resourceful, erudite, and impact-making innovators.
The landmark event, which took place on October 3, 2025, at the De Rembrandt Hotel and Suites, in Ikeja, Lagos, was tagged: ‘2025 African Education Roundtable and Qualifications Conferment’. It
had as its thought-provoking and telling theme: ‘Recognising Competence: Practice-Based Qualifications, Accreditation of Prior Experimental Learning ( APEL ), Skill Recognition ( SR ) & ISO-Certified Credentials (ICC) as Tools for African & Economic Revamp.’.
That brings to the public sphere the importance and imperative of the new narrative of what true knowledge should entail, outside the four walls of theoretical knowledge, to its practical demonstration. And more so, the impact such makes on the human development index ( HDI )or the quality of life of the beneficiaries and eventually the Nigerian nation and the society at large.
In his welcome speech, the highly distinguished Prof. Akeredolu, Ale, who happens to be a professor of artificial intelligence-powered marketing communications, leadership, organisation and risk management, highlighted the vision of the University as that of creating platforms where knowledge, leadership and practical experience converge to inspire excellence. The event, therefore, goes beyond a mere gathering of intellectuals to that of a call to action for educational reform, economic advancement and the recognition of Africa’s unique contribution to global development.
Incidentally, these defined the core values and prime objectives of the Omniversity, which include promoting the recognition of competence and experiential learning. Others encapsulate the advancement of ISO-certified educational practices across Africa, fostering discussions on leadership, certification and of course, innovation in education. Not left out are those of creating opportunities for professional recognition through honorary awards and practice-based titles, as was brilliantly done on that day. And the larger picture is to contribute to Africa’s economic and educational revamp through competence validation.
Interestingly, all the awardees successfully went through a rigorous evaluation process as conducted by the Accreditation Committee that verified the educational quality and equivalency, through the required framework for quality evaluation and assessment assurance. And good enough, they were able to defend their new qualifications with brilliant submissions and empirical evidence.
For instance, once Dr. (but now Prof.) Francis Toromade, with over 35 years of experience in Senior Leadership, including being Group Head, Policy and Strategy, Amo Byng Nigeria Ltd and Director General Agribusiness Academy and FIPAN, has left indelible footprints in the world of academia. Apart from teaching Strategic Management, Logistics, Supply Chain and Agribusiness Innovation to Master’s degree students at Rome Business School, Italy, he also leads Nigeria Poultry and Soybean Value Chain Analysis and directs USSOY programs. In fact, he has trained over 300,000 farmers and improved agricultural infrastructure, demonstrating the research, policy and practical execution,; aligning with Omniversity’s mission
was deservedly honoured with the Professor of Practice in Strategic Management.
In a similar vein, others who bagged Professor of Practice include Dr Anthony Abiola Allen in Forensic Criminology and Investigation, Dr Happiness Ndidi Obioha in Cybersecurity, Dr Priscilla Ndu in Management Finance, and Ladi Akeredolu-Ale in Broadcast Journalism.
On their part, Celestine Achi bagged Doctor if Practice in AI-powered Public Relations; Samson Sokoya in Integrated Marketing Communications; Oginaike Adedayo in Security Administration and Management; Adedamola Olubode in Environmental Management and Water Innovation; Jerome Obada in AI Data Science, Enterprise Systems and Strategic IT Management; and Daisy Ibalafa Jaja in Global Business Leadership and Decision Making.
In all of these, Omniversity has turned out to be a trailblazer not only in changing the narrative in the field of academics but de-emphasising the classroom certificate in favour of experimental learning. The education emphasis is therefore shifting to skills acquisition, increasing learning ability and the willingness to learn new things in tandem with academic dynamics as the likes of Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg have done globally outside the classroom. Worthy of note is that our own Akeredolu-Ale, Francis Toromade, Abiola Allen, Ndidi Obioha and Priscilla Ndu as the bright beacons in the long, dark tunnel of ignorance and apathy.
As Prof. Akeredolu-Ale rightly noted, for Nigeria in particular and Africa at large to convert demographic potential into sustainable economic development, an integrated system combining Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning ( APEL ), competency-based evaluations, practice-oriented qualifications is needed to accelerate workforce inclusion, firm productivity and regional mobility.
Big kudos to Omniversity, the true game-changer in the global sphere of practical demonstration of knowledge.
