The Association of Business Educators of Nigeria (ABEN) has awarded Kwara State University (KWASU) the hosting right of its 26th four-day National Conference between Wednesday, October 15 and Saturday, October 18, 2014.

The conference, tagged "Kwara 2014," is themed "Critical Incidents in the Nigerian Educational System: Challenges to Business Education."

A statement issued by the Public Relations Officer of the institution, Hajia Hamidat Suleiman, which was made available to journalists in Ilorin, at the weekend, said the conference is expected to help proffer solutions to various challenges facing Business and Entrepreneurship Education in the country.

The statement, which also said that entrepreneurship education is very key to the socio-economic development of any nation, added that entrepreneurship training equips young people with requisite knowledge and skills to be job creators rather than job seekers, and that it instils in them a spirit for wealth creation and community development.

Also, the National Secretary of the association, Dr Felix Akpotohwo, in a letter conveying the conferment of the award to the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Professor AbdulRasheed Na'Allah, said the Business Education programme in the university had been adjudged as an ideal Business Education programme and "the best in the country" in terms of course contents and running.

"he laboratory of the Department is also said to be one of the best, if not the best, compared to other Universities where similar programmes are run," he said.

Also, a statement by the Chairman, Local Organising Committee of the conference, Dr John Oyedele, says Governor AbdulFatah Ahmed of Kwara State is expected to declare the conference open as the Special Guest of Honour, while the Orangun of Oke-Ila Orangun, Osun State, Oba Adedokun Omoniyi Abolarin (Aroyinkeye 1) will be the Royal Father of the Day.

In his remarks, the vice chancellor of the institution, Professor Na'Allah, said KWASU had been collaborating with the Kwara State Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development to train secondary school teachers in entrepreneurship education, as part of efforts at addressing the challenges associated with the teaching of trade subjects.

By virtue of its determination to maintain and even consolidate on its track records of achievements, the university now pioneers undergraduate degree programmes in Entrepreneurship Education (B.Sc./B.A. (ED) in Nigeria.

The initiative is meant to provide the required manpower for the teaching of entrepreneurship education and the trade subjects recently introduced by the Federal Government into the curriculum of the Nigerian Secondary Schools.

With a curriculum that promises to prepare competent teachers for post primary schools to train the young people to be self-employed, the Kwara State University has taken it upon itself to prepare competent teachers for the teaching of the entrepreneurship education in response to the lack of professionals to handle them. In fact, since the introduction of the Trade Subjects into secondary school curriculum, secondary schools have had to assign teaching staff from varying fields to teach the subjects; while some schools have not started teaching the Trade Subjects for lack of competent teachers," the VC said.