Go Digital or Go Obsolete, Dr. Niyi Akomolafe, an HR Expert, Warns Tertiary Institutions

ValidViewNetwork reports that institutions of higher learning that fail to embrace digital tools for administration and data-driven decision making risk being sidelined in the 21st-century knowledge economy.

This was the position of Dr. Niyi Akomolafe, Deputy Registrar at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), while delivering a paper titled “Effective Human Resources Management” at an in-house seminar for staff of the Federal College of Agriculture, Moor Plantation, Ibadan (FCAI).

Dr. Akomolafe highlighted the urgency for tertiary institutions to invest in technological tools to enhance efficiency, productivity, and evidence-based decisions. He stressed that “the era of making key decisions based on intuition is long gone.”

ValidViewNetwork reports that the seminar had in attendance top academic and administrative personalities, including the Provost of FCAI, Prof. Jonathan Atungwu; Prof. Kolawole Adebayo, former Deputy Vice-Chancellor of FUNAAB; Dr. Samson Odedina, former Ogun State Commissioner for Agriculture; and Dr. M.V. David.

The HR expert advocated for the standardization of administrative templates, enhanced data analytics, and regular feedback systems as tools to drive institutional development. He also called for robust ICT infrastructure and data visualization platforms to improve institutional reporting systems.

For Dr. Akomolafe, strategic human resource management is the key to building capacity, streamlining communication, and achieving organizational objectives through collaborative efforts.

He charged the College Registry to take the lead in innovation by helping staff move from procedural to creative knowledge through consistent self-development. He added that professional administrators should be acknowledged and incentivized for their crucial roles.

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According to him, “What is neglected could be what becomes affected; what is ignored might ultimately influence outcomes”.

He concluded by urging the management of FCAI to double investment in staff training, technology, and leadership development for administrators, ValidViewNetwork reports.