Lagos Business School (LBS) has rolled out a decade of a strategic plan to sustain its long term vision and mission.
Speaking at the 30th anniversary/ 2021 Alumni Day of the school hosted by EMBA 1 Class with the theme: Unlocking the potentials of the Nigerian Digital Economy for economic Recovery, the Dean, Chris Ogbechie, revealed that the strategic plan for the next decade consisted of five pillars.
According to him, Pillar One is delivering a remarkable participant experience which includes preparing participants and students for the future of work. Pillar Two is significant research that solves business, social, and institutional problems; Pillar Three is enhancing engagement which meant that LBS would be nurturing its partnerships with alumni, the government and social communities at the local and international level.
Pillar Four is targeted at People, Processes, Systems, Culture and Values which involves strengthening its internal process to support the vision; and Pillar Five is aimed at increasing its internalisation, maintaining all accreditations; research, programme design, faculty and student exchange with other international business schools.
Ogbechie affirmed that alumni have imbibed the mission of its founding members of the Association, to ‘create an oasis of sanity in the society,’ noting that the wealth and sustainability of global business schools lie in the hands of their alumni.
‘We must set the standard for addressing important challenges that impact us now and will inevitably affect our future. As we witnessed the gradual but steady global shift to other forms of national income for economic survival and sustainability, we must investigate and harness these new prospects to remain relevant on the global scene.’
He added that Nigeria was capturing only a fraction of its digital economic potential despite being one of the largest populations of young people in the world, well-positioned to develop a strong digital economy, thus, the need to learn and do more in the digital realm becomes paramount.
‘The wealth and sustainability of global business schools lie in the hands of their alumni. Therefore, I place a clarion call to all our alumni and friends gathered today to support us with their 4 T’s (Time, Talent, Tribe & Treasure) to ensure that Lagos Business School continues to raise the bar in management training which is critical to effective nation-building. We want to continue to churn out leaders who are ethically grounded and bold enough to make a difference,’ he assured.
On the Nigerian economy, an economist, Dr Doyin Salami, maintained that if Nigeria must make headway it must extricate itself from the mentality of the 1970s, saying: ‘Other countries have moved on, Nigeria can’t afford to lag.’
Salami added that human capacity must be improved sharply and the manufacturing sector must be conscientiously addressed like China did if Nigeria must return its economy to its former glory. He noted that people cannot see opportunities to explore if they are not educated enough in a secured environment.
He added that the need to rebuild the Social contract between the government and the governed was paramount if confidence in government must be restored. ‘If transparency is not seen, then there is a problem. We’re doing our best at the advisory council but there is a need for elites consensus to be looked into,’ he stated.
The chairperson, a Senior Partner at TLcom Capital, Omobola Johnson, posited that digital infrastructure, skills and enabling platforms are sine quo non for economic growth, development and sustenance.
According to her, the Federal Government must tighten its cyber Security and safety for well-meaning Nigerians to explore the digital space for economic development, adding that ‘we must develop local content and forward-thinking people to drive the desired changes,’ she added.
Other experts maintained that backward integration, real-time mentorship, upskilling, re-skilling and other forms of help offered to budding entrepreneurs are indispensable for the unsung entrepreneurs, industrialists, digital disruptors and resource managers across the board come to the limelight.
