EKSU to graduate pioneer securities trading students

Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, is set to graduate the pioneer cohort of its Professional Diploma Programme in Securities Trading and Financial Markets before the end of 2026, the university has said.

The development was disclosed in a statement made available to The PUNCH on Monday, which said the eight-month EKSU Financial Markets Training Programme was designed to equip students with practical skills for careers in the financial markets.

The statement noted that the programme, approved by the university Senate on February 25, 2026, combines theoretical instruction with practical simulations to give students hands-on knowledge of risk management, investment strategies and trading in global markets.

It added that the training was delivered in a CFA Institute-backed Training Room, established to bridge the gap between classroom learning and the realities of financial markets and in alliance with the vision of President Bola Tinubu.

Speaking on the national importance of the programme, an academician, Dr Tunji Olowolafe, said the initiative was aimed at addressing the gap between conventional university education and the practical skills required in modern capital markets.

“A large percentage of recent graduates seeking finance roles lack the critical, practical skills demanded by modern capital markets,” he said.

He added that the programme would provide students with access to practical trading, simulated dealing rooms and global virtual work experiences, to produce graduates who could compete effectively in the financial industry.

“We are equipping our youth to command global trading desks from day one, transforming university classrooms into incubators for economic powerhouse leaders. This model must become the blueprint replicated across all Nigerian universities,” Olowolafe said.

The General Manager of the Tunji Olowolafe Foundation, Bomo Anthony, said the programme had enabled students to move beyond learning financial concepts to gaining practical exposure.

“I’ve watched these students grow, week by week, from learning about shares and bonds to actually placing a trade. That’s the moment it stops being a classroom exercise and starts being a career,” she said.

Anthony said the investment in the programme would only achieve its purpose if the students continued to develop the skills acquired, adding that the initiative was producing young people with practical knowledge of the financial industry.

The statement said applications for the next cohort would open at the beginning of the new academic year as EKSU and the foundation seek to expand the programme to more students.