Content uploaded by Christian Bolu
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Christian Bolu on Dec 23, 2016
Content may be subject to copyright.
Copyright © 2014 IJEIR, All right reserved
1
International Journal of Engineering Innovation & Research
Volume 3, Issue 1, ISSN: 2277 –5668
The Role of Higher Education Institutions in the
Development of ICT Professionals for Innovation in
Nigeria
Christian A. Bolu
Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria
Email: christian.bolu@covenantuniversity.edu.ng
Ken Egbo
Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria
Email: ken.egbo@fuoye.edu.ng
Abstract –This paper presents the role of Higher
Education Institutions (HEI) in the development of
Information and Communication Technology related
professionals in Nigeria. The paper identifies the
prerequisites to producing graduates who have skills to
create, manage and deploy contemporary world-class and
innovative software solutions. Furthermore the paper
presents the gradual but revolutionary steps the
universities in Nigeria are taking towards producing high
quality graduates for the Nigerian Software Industry in the
shortest time. The paper discusses the need for definition of
ICT related discipline, the demand and supply of ICT
professionals in the Nigerian market. Highlighting the
demand-supply imbalance the paper concludes by
proffering solutions to meet the gap in the nearest possible
time.
Keywords –Software Development, Computing,
Academia, Collaboration, Higher Education, Institutions,
Innovation.
I. Introduction
1. The Need for Software Development in Nigeria
The Nigeria's software industry has been
disappointingly neglected despite Nigeria's size and both
economic and political importance in Africa.
Paradoxically, Nigeria is producing some of the world’s
best, most renowned and skilled Software experts and
solutions of the 21st Century. Recognising this great
potential, a Presidential initiative on outsourcing was
made in 2005 by the ertswhile President and
Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR to share Nigeria's
locally-abundant human capital with the rest of Africa
and the world, and to diversify into non-oil revenue
sources.
This initiative had the vision “to position West Africa
as a key player in the Information Society (IS) –
producing some of the world’s best, most renowned and
skilled Software experts and solutions of the 21st Century
and a mission of ensuring that a few years from now,
West Africa innovates, develops and applies indigenous
software for its governance, security and economic
growth and also becomes the first address for global
quality Software, solutions and Human Resource
demand - by the knowledge industry”
1
1
The Presidential Committee on Capacity Building for Outsourcing
under this program held a one day stakeholder consultation meeting on
Wednesday, October, 19, 2005
Nigeria, today, has 129 Universities (Federal 40, State
39, Private 50) (NUC, 2013), with almost all running
some form of courses on Information and
Communication Technology courses and producing well
over 10,000 graduates with academic training on ICT
2
.
It is always mentioned that to be successful in the ICT
market, a country must have the following four
characteristics among its population.
English speaking
Talented and hard working
Relatively Cheap wages
Relevant and high proficiency in Computers
Nigerians fulfil the first three requirements adequately.
But the fourth requirement, a highly proficient ICT work
force, is an area of great concern for the Institutions of
Higher Learning especially the Universities.
Drawing from experience in mechatronics education
from several emerging countries, it is vital for HEIs
3
to
be very clear of the level of proficiency and capacity
they need to build. In his study, (Akpinar, 2006),
presents situation of mechatronics education in Turkey
and its development process. Although it started late,
there is mechatronics education from high school level
to graduate level today. In China (Chen, et al, 2012),
shows that as one of the typical and innovative teaching
modes in mechatronics in China, mechatronics teaching
in Beihang University has formed a ‘‘One main line,
Two links, Three practical points’’ mode and
methodology, which emphasizes on the links and
mapping relationships between theoretical teaching and
practical teaching. After 6-year practicing and exploring,
the course has made fundamental and systematic
innovation achievements in the field with respect to class
materials, teaching mode, teaching system. Also (Wang
et al, 2009), discusses the need for a focused laboratory
environment to be as close as possible to the real world
situation to apply and absorb mechatronics concepts, and
to assist students in the development of ‘‘hands-on”
skills. (Ersoya et al, 2010), in their paper documents a
new methodology for teaching of Automotive
Mechatronics course for innovation and (Rojko et al,
2011) also describes a novel E-training developed for
teaching mechatronics.
This paper presents the role of Higher Education
Institutions in the development of innovative ICT related
professionals in Nigeria. It identifies the prerequisites to
2
Information and Communication Technology
3
Higher Education Institutions
Copyright © 2014 IJEIR, All right reserved
2
International Journal of Engineering Innovation & Research
Volume 3, Issue 1, ISSN: 2277 –5668
producing graduates who have skills to innovatively
create, manage and deploy contemporary world-class
software solutions. Furthermore the paper presents the
gradual but revolutionary approach Nigerian universities
are taking to produce high quality graduates for the
Nigerian Software Industry in the shortest time. The
paper discusses this issue as follows: The need for
definition of ICT discipline is discussed in section 2
while the demand for ICT professional in the Nigerian
market is covered in section 3 and the supply by both
degree-awarding institutions and vocational institutes are
discussed in section 4. Highlighting the demand-supply
imbalance the paper concludes by proffering solutions to
meet the gap in the nearest possible time.
II. THE ICT DISCIPLINE
2.1 Defining the ICT Discipline
Like all science disciplines in the computer related
fields, it is very important that institutions of Higher
Learning adhere to discipline definition that has national,
regional and international recognition. This assures
employers that their graduate have minimum skills
required by Industry. In Nigeria, there appears not be
clear definition of the computing discipline. For
example, National Board for Technical Education in
creating the Vocational and the Innovative Enterprise
Institutions has used the following discipline definitions:
Software Engineering Technology
Computer Hardware Engineering Technology
Networking & Systems Security
Computer Software Engineering Technology
Multimedia Technology
Telecommunications Technology
The Nigerian Universities run the computer related
degree programmes under over three dozen names as
shown in Table 1.
Table 1: ICT Related Course Names in Nigerian Universities
Computer
Engineering
Computer
Science
Information
Systems
Information
Technology
Software
Engineering
Mechatronics
Engineering
Communication
Technology
Education, Mats,
Stats & Computer
Science
Office &
Management
Information
Information &
Communication
Technology
Software
Engineering
Mechatronics
Computer
Engineering
Education &
Computer Science
Management
Information System
Information
Technology
Management
software
Development
Mechatronics
Engineering
Computer Science
& Engineering
Computer Science
Computer Education
Computer Science &
Information
Technology
Electronics &
Computer
Engineering
Computer Science
with Economics
Science & Computer
Education
Information
Technology
Electrical/
Computer
Engineering
Computer Science
& Mathematics
Library &
Information Science
Telecommunication
Management
Computer/
Electronics
Statistics with
Computer Science
Computer &
Information System
Information Science
Technology
Electrical/
Electronics
Information System
& Economics
Electronics
Computer &
Information Science
Computer
Electronics
Information Science
Management
Computer Science
with Electronics
Information System
Computer with
Statistics
Bioinformatics
Information
Resource
Management
Communications
Business Computing
Source: Analysis from Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board Publications, 2007-2010, Council for the Regulation of
Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), 2013
Copyright © 2014 IJEIR, All right reserved
3
International Journal of Engineering Innovation & Research
Volume 3, Issue 1, ISSN: 2277 –5668
The ACM
4
recommends the following skills
requirement:
a) Computer Engineers who should be able to design
and implement systems that involve the integration of
software and hardware devices
b) Computer Scientists who should be prepared to work
in a broad range of positions involving tasks from
theoretical work to software development
c) Information Systems specialists who should be able
to analyse information requirements and business
processes and be able to specify and design systems
that align with organizational goals
d) Information Technology professionals who should be
able to work effectively at planning, implementation,
configuration, and maintenance of an organisation’s
computing infrastructure
e) Software Engineers who should be able to properly
perform and manage activities at every stage of the
lifecycle of large-scale software systems
2.2. Employability of University Graduates in the
Software Industry
The 21st Century will be marked by increasing reliance
on technology to address growing concerns about
diminishing resources and sustainable development. The
economic crisis in 2008-2010 has heightened the need
for competent human resources to help recover the
losses. As repositories of valuable human capital,
universities face great challenges in contributing to
economic development in times of such economic
downturns. Furthermore, the rapid rate of change and
development of new technologies means that education
programmes must keep pace with the knowledge and
skills demanded by employers. The kind of skills needed
and how universities can help to foster these skills has
not been fully addressed by policy makers. With a
forecast of increasing unemployment, unless the
economy rebounds soon, it is crucial that universities
equip their students with appropriate knowledge, skills
and aptitudes to be more competitive in a shrinking
labour market.
III. SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT: DEMAND
SIDE
3.1 Job Vacancy Adverts in Nigeria
Table 2 and 3 shows the analysis of job vacancy
adverts in the Nigerian print media over a period 2006 to
2010 and reveals disappointing results for the software
development industry but presents a very interesting
pattern and trends.
The demand for software developers was least in
earlier years but becoming of some importance recently,
the low level notwithstanding. This corroborates the fact
that local software development is beginning to show up.
The demand for Desktop Computing such as Microsoft
Office Productivity skills is definitely slowing down as
the populace is becoming more computer literate. It is
4
ACM accessed www.acm.org, 12 September 2009
very interesting that requirement for Database
administrator and Enterprise Resource Planning
professionals are taking the centre stage. This of course
points to the apparent demand for software and
mechatronics engineering skills. Software sales pattern
5
in Nigeria can be identified with the industry
segmentation. Multiple drivers are pushing market
growth and adoption of integrated life-cycle and
enterprise change management tools. Some of the
drivers are:
a. Regulatory compliance demands and audit
b. Emergence of global complex sourcing
c. Open source methodology
d. Need to create governance across the life cycle of
projects
e. New Information System security awareness in
Nigeria
f. Technology and development shift with the evolution
of Service Oriented Architecture
This trend will augur well for the Nigerian Software
market if the supply side is more focused in producing
graduates of high quality with computing skills needed
by the private sector and other potential employers
6
Table 2: Newspaper adverts for jobs in Guardian
newspaper, 2006 AD
Technologies/Areas
%
Operating Systems & Networking
10.00%
Client/Server & RDBMS
12.00%
MIS/Software Engineering
8.00%
Desktop Computing
45.00%
Graphics/Web Designing
15.00%
Teaching
10.00%
TOTAL
100.00%
Table 3: Jobs Advertised in Nigeria Print Media
(Guardian, Punch, Vanguard)
JOBS
Importance
Systems Administrator
29.34%
Database Administrator
16.53%
Communications Engineer
13.64%
Hardware Engineer
11.57%
Enterprise Resource Planning
8.26%
Computer Aided Design
7.44%
Software Developer
4.55%
Systems Analyst
3.72%
Web Administrator
3.72%
Desktop Operator & Others
1.24%
TOTAL
100.00%
3.2 ICT Job Content
A closer look at the ICT content of advertised jobs
also reveals a clear direction where the Universities
should focus and how urgently they must re-engineer the
curriculum to meet the need of the Nigerian Software
Industry.
5
Unpublished Market Intelligence Report, (Bolu, 2008)
6
Tom Wanyama et al
Copyright © 2014 IJEIR, All right reserved
4
International Journal of Engineering Innovation & Research
Volume 3, Issue 1, ISSN: 2277 –5668
It is important to note the increasing demand by
employers of Computer Engineering skills such as
VSAT/Wireless Technologies, UNIX Operating Systems
skills and once again the diminishing explicit demand
for Desktop Application skills (see Table 4).
Table 4: Specific Skills Requirement by Employers
Job Specific Skills
Importance
UNIX Operating System
28.10%
Database Administration
15.70%
VSAT/Wireless Technologies
13.22%
Windows Operating Systems
8.68%
Enterprise Resource Planning
7.44%
Computer Aided Design
7.44%
Internet Technologies
6.20%
Java Programming
5.37%
Others: NET Programming,
Desktop applications, etc
7.85%
TOTAL
100.00%
The Technology Vendors for Jobs advertised shows
increasing demand for Software and Information
Technology skills such as Java Programming and
CISCO certifications. The results are shown in Table 5
below.
Table 5: Technology Vendors for Advertised Jobs –
2009
Technology Vendors
Importance
Microsoft
34.55%
CISCO
25.13%
Oracle
20.42%
Macromedia
7.85%
SAP AG
5.76%
Others: Autodesk, CompTIA, etc
6.29%
TOTAL
100.00%
When we look at the programming languages used by
the Nigerian Software Industry in 2006-8, it appears that
the Java Programming and Visual Basic are
predominant. Table 6 shows these details.
Table 6: Programming Languages used by Software
Companies in Nigeria: 2005-2007
Programming
Language/Tools/Databases
Importance
Programming Languages/Tools
Visual Basic
1
Java Programming
2
Crystal Report
3
Visual FoxPro
4
Databases
Microsoft SQL
1
Oracle
2
Source: Software Companies in Nigeria - Nigeria Software
Development Initiative. Accessed Sept 11, 2009.
http://www.nsdi.org.ng/ Book2.htm
IV. SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT: SUPPLY SIDE
4.1 Supply Capacity
Nigeria has huge capacity for producing ICT related
professionals not only for the Nigerian Market but also
for the regional and global market. Today there are close
to 130 universities/degree awarding Institutions and
almost all offer some form of ICT related courses at
degree levels. What is disappointing is the lack of
programmes to produce graduates of high quality with
computing skills needed by employers of labour and the
entrepreneurs for the software market.
From Tables 7 and 8 as at 2009, we can see that of the
83 universities listed no Federal nor State universities
that have awarded degrees programmes on Software
Engineering. Only 3 Private Universities have started or
about to start.
Although virtually all universities are offering Computer
Science courses, the content of the programmes is far cry
from the domestic and international demand. While the
older universities are strong in traditional Engineering
and by extension basic computer engineering, the newer
State and particularly private universities are
emphasising Information Technology and Information
systems. For Mechatronics Engineering no university in
Nigeria has graduated a Mechatronics Engineer although
5 have started (JAMB, 2013).
It is understandable that the ease to change curriculum is
much longer in the older universities especially the
Federal-owned universities, however, universities must
respond to the needs of the market so that their graduates
are relevant and employable. Moreover the export-
oriented information services sector provides
tremendous opportunities for developing countries like
Nigeria. Developing countries are outsourcing coding
jobs to developing countries where labour cost are
relatively lower and in larger quantities than the
developed countries.
4.2 Courses Run by HEIs
A closer look at the courses run by degree-awarding
HEIs shows a major gap in the Industry demand. Their
curricula need to have the following characteristics:
Cover the six areas identified as contemporary
components of ICT related training. They are:
oComputer Engineering
oComputer Science
oInformation Systems
oInformation Technology
oSoftware Engineering
oMechatronics Engineering
They should reflect the International Certification of
major software Technology Vendors
They must be dynamic with provision for skills on
the changing technologies
Areas of emphasis must be very focused although not
necessarily Vendor specific
Copyright © 2014 IJEIR, All right reserved
5
International Journal of Engineering Innovation & Research
Volume 3, Issue 1, ISSN: 2277 –5668
Table 7: ICT Related Degree-Awarded Institutions in Nigeria (2009)
Institution Types
Institutions
Computer
Engineering
Computer
Science
Information
Systems
Information
Technology
Software
Engineering
Mechatronics
Engineering
COURSES
Federal Universities - General
17
16
17
5
0
0
0
38
Federal Universities -
Agriculture
3
3
5
1
1
0
0
10
Federal Universities -
Technology
7
7
6
2
3
0
0
18
Total Federal Universities
27
26
28
8
4
0
0
66
State Universities - General
23
11
23
8
1
0
0
43
State Universities - Technology
5
7
3
2
1
0
0
13
Total State Universities
28
18
26
10
2
0
0
56
Total Private Universities
29
17
25
14
19
3
0
78
Total Universities
83
61
79
32
25
3
0
200
Degree Awarded Institutions
19
0
1
4
0
0
0
5
TOTAL DEGREE ICT
COURSES (2009)
103
61
80
36
25
3
0
205
Table 8: Universities Offering ICT Related Courses in Nigeria (2009)
Institution Types
Institutions
Computer
Engineering
Computer
Science
Information
Systems
Information
Technology
Software
Engineering
Mechatronics
Engineering
COURSES
Federal Universities
27
39.39%
42.42%
12.12%
6.06%
0.00%
0.00%
100%
State Universities
28
32.14%
46.43%
17.86%
3.57%
0.00%
0.00%
100%
Private Universites
29
21.79%
32.05%
17.95%
24.36%
3.85%
0.00%
100%
TOTAL
84
30.50%
39.50%
16.00%
12.50%
1.50%
0.00%
100%
V. SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT: FILLING THE
GAP
5.1 Actions required by HEIs in Nigeria
The following actions need to be taken by HEIs.
Discipline Definition: Presently the names under
which ICT courses are run are well over 40 in the
Nigerian universities. This must be streamlined with
the internationally accepted definitions. Professional
bodies and Quality Assurance agencies play a very
important role in the definition of ICT disciplines
7
Curriculum Development: Universities, especially the
older universities must review their curriculum in line
with domestic and international demand. The
academia needs to work closely with professional
bodies such as the Nigerian Society of Engineers,
Computer Professional of Nigeria, Nigerian Computer
Society, etc. Universities must reflect as far as
possible courses that embody major skills required by
the ICT employers and market. For example, Oracle
Certified Professional, Sun Microsystems (Oracle)
Java programming, and e-Business.
Short Courses: In order to ensure that the software
market obtains the required software skills, academia
must supplement the conventional programmes in the
defined disciplines with a range of short courses. Such
skills must cover skills that are known to be lacking in
the conventional programs and required by the ICT
industry. Some of the short courses are:
7
Wanyama et al, 2006.
oCisco Certified Associate
oCisco Certified Network Professional
oMicrosoft Certified Information Technology
Professional
oCompTIA Certifications such as A+, N+, Linux+,
Security+
oJava Certified Developer
oMicrocontroller Programming
5.2 Actions required by Private and Public Sectors
in Nigeria
The private sector has huge responsibility in directing
the quality of graduates turned out from the HEIs by
doing the following:
Industry-Academia Collaboration: HEIs not only
provide Industry with the skilled manpower but also
support the sector in many other ways such as
research and development. The ICT industry in
Nigeria shies away from collaborating with the
Nigeria academia preferring overseas collaboration.
This must be reversed.
Infrastructure Development: The ICT training
infrastructure in the HEIs requires modernizations.
Assistance such as Servers, High Performance
Computing facilities and License-free developer
software are necessary to enable the HEIs produce
high quality ICT professionals.
The Government has obligations to use the academia
in designing and implementing software and ICT
projects. Some countries such India and Mauritius
8
8
The Government of Mauritius uses the University of
Technology in the design of the Cyber City project.
Copyright © 2014 IJEIR, All right reserved
6
International Journal of Engineering Innovation & Research
Volume 3, Issue 1, ISSN: 2277 –5668
use the academia in major ICT project design and
analysis.
5.3 Software Entrepreneurship Programme at some
university in Nigeria
Some Nigeria universities such as, the University of
Nigeria, Nsukka, Federal University Oye-Ekiti,
Covenant University, Ota, etc, in a modest beginning,
are addressing this issue as suggesting above. Some of
these initiatives are:
Six-months Java Programming by partnering
A two-month Entrepreneurship Training by the
University of Nigeria Centre for Entrepreneurship
and Development. The training materials or modules
contain all the basic knowledge that could help the
trainee start and manage sustainable businesses. The
key components of the module include;
Entrepreneurship Development, Basic Business
Management, Leadership and Business Development
Services.
SAP University Alliances are partnering with
universities to provide access to SAP NW AS Java
Server including SAP NetWeaver Portal at the SAP
University Competence Centre in Magdeburg,
Germany for Java programming and Enterprise Portal
development.
Code Camp with Capstone Project on Education,
Hospital and Hotel Industry by partnering with NIIT
Ltd of India
VI. CONCLUSION
Nigeria today has close to 130 Universities with
almost all running some form of courses on Information
and Communication Technology courses and producing
well over 10,000 graduates with academic training on
ICT
9
.
The following actions need to be taken by HEIs.
Discipline Definition: Presently the names under
which ICT courses are run are well over 40 in the
Nigerian universities. This must be streamlined with
the internationally accepted definitions. Professional
bodies and Quality Assurance agencies play a very
important role in the definition of ICT disciplines
10
Curriculum Development: Universities, especially the
older universities must review their curriculum in line
with domestic and international demand. The
academia needs to work closely with professional
bodies such as the Nigerian Society of Engineers,
Computer Professional of Nigeria, Nigerian
Computer Society, etc. Universities must reflect as
far as possible courses that major skills required by
the ICT employers and market. For example, Oracle
Certified Professional, Sun Microsystems (Oracle)
Java programming, and e-Business.
Short Courses: In order to ensure that the software
market obtains the required software skills, academia
9
Information and Communication Technology
10
Wanyama et al, 2006.
must supplement the conventional programmes in the
defined disciplines with a range of short courses.
Such skills must cover skills that are known to be
lacking in the conventional programs and required by
the ICT industry. Some of the short courses are:
Cisco Certified Associate
Cisco Certified Network Professional
Microsoft Certified Information Technology
Professional
CompTIA Certifications such as A+, N+, Linux+,
Security+
Java Certified Developer
Microcontroller Programming
The private sector has huge responsibility in directing
the quality of graduates turned out from the HEIs by
doing the following:
Industry-Academia Collaboration: HEIs not only
provide Industry with the skilled manpower but also
support the sector in many other ways such as
research and development. The ICT industry in
Nigeria shies away from collaborating with the
Nigeria academia preferring overseas collaboration.
This must be reversed.
Infrastructure Development: The ICT training
infrastructure in the HEIs requires modernizations.
Assistance such as Servers, High Performance
Computing facilities, License-free developer software
are necessary to enable the HEIs produce high quality
ICT professionals.
The Government has obligations to use the academia
in designing and implementing software and ICT
projects. Some countries such India and Mauritius
11
use the academia in major ICT project design and
analysis.
This paper has presented the role of Higher Education
Institutions in the development of Information and
Communication Technology professionals in Nigeria.
The paper also identified the prerequisites to producing
graduates who have skills to innovatively create, manage
and deploy world-class software solutions. Furthermore
the paper presented the gradual but revolutionary steps
Nigerian universities are taking to produce high quality
graduates for the Nigerian Software Industry in the
shortest time.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors acknowledge the curriculum investigation
contribution of the Innovation Centre, University of
Nigeria, Nsukka, the Department of Mechanical
Engineering, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria and
Department of Mechanical/Mechatronics Engineering of
Federal University Oye-Ekiti.
11
The Government of Mauritius uses the University of Technology in
the design of the Cyber City project.
Copyright © 2014 IJEIR, All right reserved
7
International Journal of Engineering Innovation & Research
Volume 3, Issue 1, ISSN: 2277 –5668
REFERENCES
[1] Akpinar, B., (2006), Mechatronics education in Turkey,
Mechatronics, 16 (2006) 185–192.
[2] Bolu, C. A., ICT Training Demand in Nigeria, Unpublished
Market Intelligence Reports on ICT Demand in Nigeria (2006-
2010), International Data Management Services Ltd, Ikeja
Lagos, Nigeria
[3] Chen, D., Li, X., Li, Z., Wang, T., A., (2012), mechatronics
control engineering class at Beihang University, China:
Practicing and exploring, Mechatronics, 22 (2012) 881–889
[4] Ersoya, S., Küçük, H., (2010), The effect of a new teaching
methodology on learning performances of automotive -
mechatronics students, Procedia Social and Behavioral
Sciences, 2 (2010) 310–316
[5] Federal Ministry of Education, (April, 2009), Brochure:
Vocational & Innovative Enterprise Institutions, Abuja,
Nigeria
[6] Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, UME/DE
Various Brochure 2007-2012 Academic Sessions.
[7] National Universities Commission, (2013), Nigerian
Universities-Federal, State and Private Universities in
Nigeria, http://www.nuc.edu.ng: accessed December 24, 2013.
[8] Nigerian Newspapers (various editions), –Guardian, Punch
and Vanguard Newspapers, 2008-2010
[9] Nigerian Universities Curricula on Computer Science,
(various), 2007-2010.
[10] NSDI, (2009), Software Companies in Nigeria - Nigeria
Software Development Initiative. Accessed Sept 11, 2009
http://www.nsdi.org.ng/Book2.htm
[11] Potgieter, C., & Herselman, M., (July 2003), Using ICT in
Tertiary Education –Do We Dare To Compare? Proceedings
of the 16th Annual NACCQ, Palmerston North New Zealand,
Mann, S., & Williamson, (eds), accessed from
http://www.naccq.ac.nz
[12] Rojko, D. Hercog, K. Jezernik, E-training in mechatronics
using innovative remote laboratory, Mathematics and
Computers in Simulation, 82 (2011) 508–516,
[13] SAP Education, (2011), Participant Handbook-Unit 13:
Human Capital Management, SAP ERP-Integration of
Business Processes. Material No: 50100105, SAP AG.
[14] Wang,Y., Yu, Y., Xie, C., Wang, H., Feng, X., (2009),
Mechatronics education at CDHAW of Tongji University:
Laboratory guidelines, framework, implementations and
improvements, Mechatronics, 19 (2009) 1346–1352
[15] Wanyama, T., & Baryamureeba, V., (2006), The Role of
Academia in Fostering Private Sector Competiveness in ICT
Development, Faculty of Computing and Information
Technology, Makerere University, Uganda.
AUTHOR’SPROFILE
Prof. Christian Bolu
Doctorate of Philosophy (Industrial & Systems
Engineering) University of Wales, United
Kingdom, 1982. Master of Engineering (Industrial
Engineering), University of Toronto, Canada, 1979.
Bachelor of Science (Mechanical Engineering)
University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 1976. Prof Bolu is
presently a professor of Mechatronics Engineering at the Federal
University Oye-Ekiti,Ekiti State, Nigeria
Dr Ken Egbo
Dr Ken Egbo, is the Deputy Director, Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) at the Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State,
Nigeria
