The University of Lagos (UNILAG), in collaboration with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), on Thursday, September 18, 2025, hosted a high-level stakeholders’ meeting aimed at repositioning Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria for growth, innovation, and global competitiveness.
With the theme: “Catalyzing MSME Growth and Innovation through Strategic Partnerships Aligned with Future-Ready Agenda”, the event brought together policy makers, industry leaders, academics, entrepreneurs, and financial institutions – at the Conference Room of the Human Resources Development Centre (HRDC), UNILAG – to chart a pathway for strengthening Nigeria’s MSME ecosystem.
VC Ogunsola Champions Industry-Oriented Research
In her welcome remarks, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Folasade T. Ogunsola, OON, FAS underscored UNILAG’s commitment to serving as an incubator for innovation and a bridge between academia and industry. She stressed that universities must increasingly become engines of enterprise development, providing manpower development and research commercialization to support MSMEs.
She emphasised that the University of Lagos, under her leadership, has changed the orientation of students’ research projects from “inside-out” to “outside-in”, taking research cues from established industry problems rather than the presumptions of lecturers or students, thus positioning the University as a value creator for industry, in terms of manpower development and bankable solutions.
Her words: “We recognize the demographic potentials of our country. With over one hundred and fifty (150) million people under the age of thirty (30), we sit on a dual possibility of either crises or opportunities. Here at the University of Lagos, we see the immense potentials of our students who are enterprising, hardworking, and resilient. That’s why we spare nothing at investing in the infrastructure and environment that will give them the platforms to manifest their inherent greatness. We train them here to be industry-relevant and self-reliant.”
SMEDAN Reaffirms Commitment to Enabling MSMEs
The Lagos State Manager of SMEDAN, Dr. Olubunmi Kole-Dawodu, represented the Director-General, Mr. Charles Odii, at the event. He disclosed that the agency remains committed to simplifying regulatory processes, encouraging business formalization, and creating enabling frameworks for small businesses to thrive.
Dr. Kole-Dawodu described the partnership with UNILAG as a bold step towards embedding knowledge, research, and innovation in the MSME space. He also encouraged MSME players to embrace collaboration, noting that operating in isolation would not serve their best interests.
Strategic Partnerships: Key to MSME Survival
Delivering the keynote address titled, “Future-Ready MSMEs – The Role of Strategic Partnerships”, Deputy President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Engr. Leye Kupoluyi, emphasised that strategic partnerships are no longer optional but vital to MSME survival in an increasingly competitive and digitally driven world.
“To be future-ready,” he said, “MSMEs must embrace digital adoption, embed sustainability, and cultivate resilience. But they cannot do this in isolation. Their growth depends on ecosystems of support, collaboration, and partnerships that we collectively nurture.”
Engr. Kupoluyi cited successful examples of Nigerian firms such as Paystack, Flutterwave, and Psaltery International, whose growth trajectories were powered by strategic alliances with local and global partners. He called on academia, government, and the private sector to deliberately anchor MSMEs in partnership-driven ecosystems that connect them to finance, technology, mentorship, and global markets.
Panel Session Dissects MSME Challenges
The interactive programme featured a panel session that analysed the challenges MSMEs face in terms of access to finance, technology adoption, and market linkages.
Moderated by a business coach and an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Science Education (Chemistry Education Unit), Dr. Adeleke Adesina; the panel had the quartet of the Lagos State Manager of SMEDAN, Dr. Olubunmi Kole-Dawodu; the Southwest Director of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Mr. Victor Awoniyi; Managing Director of UNILAG Microfinance Bank, Mr. Oluwaseun Adekanbi; and the Founder/CEO of CerviTech – a mobile heath application for the correction and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders of the spine – Professor Ashiyat Akodu, who is a staff of the Department of Physiotherapy, College of Medicine, University of Lagos.
UNILAG Presents Ten (10) Business Development Service Professionals (BDSPs)
A highlight of the meeting was the presentation of the ten (10) Business Development Service Professionals (BDSPs), trained by SMEDAN, to the Vice-Chancellor. They are:
- Dr. Lateef Odekunle – Director of the Human Resources Development Centre (HRDC), UNILAG and Chairman of UNILAG-BDSP
- Professor Johnson Agunsoye – Director of the Centre for Industrial Liaison and Placement Unit (CILPU), UNILAG.
- Professor Atinuke Lano-Maduagu.
- Professor Sunday Olabiyi.
- Dr. Oladimeji Odetunde.
- Dr. Rahim A. Ganiyu.
- Dr. Oluwole Victor Falobi.
- Dr. Mayowa Iredele.
- Dr. Yetunde Abiodun.
- Mr. Adeshola Kukoyi – Secretary of UNILAG-BDSP
The ten (10) BDSPs, sponsored by the University of Lagos, form a pioneer group of trained business coaches at the University of Lagos, who will build a platform for sustained dialogue, linkage forging, and development of collaborative solutions for MSME growth.
UNILAG-BDSP: A Platform for Sustained Collaboration
A Business Development Support Professional is trained and licensed by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) to provide business development services to SMEs in Nigeria.
The Vice-Chancellor congratulated the group for their successful completion of the training and charged them to deploy their skills to the promotion of enterprise development at the University and beyond. She urged them to serve as a bridge linking UNILAG, SMEDAN, and other stakeholders in the SME ecosystem.
In his address, the Chairman of BDSP-UNILAG and Convener of the event, Dr. Lateef Odekunle, expressed gratitude to the Vice-Chancellor for her nomination of the 10 BDSPs and affirmed their commitment to her vision of UNILAG being the Silicon Valley of Nigeria, by working to strengthen partnerships across government, industry, and academia to build resilient Nigerian enterprises that can compete globally.
The Secretary of BDSP-UNILAG, Mr.Olusola Kukoyi, thereafter gave the vote of thanks.
Message of the Day
As stakeholders departed, one message resonated clearly: in training, linkages and support exist the power to transform not just businesses, but the Nigerian economy at large – and the University of Lagos is determined to be the center of it.
Report: Isaiah Kumuyi
Photography: Samuel Olaifa Dosumu
