The Export Brief The Export Brief 2 | Page 53

practical world during or after their study period, yet graduates who have gone through intensive university-industry linkage programs could offer valuable feedback from their experiences while boosting the university‘s profile. On a final note, Nigerian universities must invest heavily in an enabling environment for research and research capacity development. This must include programs focusing directly on the human component in order to raise the capacity of individuals and build a critical mass of competent researchers. In this regard, perhaps private universities are better placed as the funding structures of public higher institutions in Nigeria severely limit their ability to move on new initiatives.