The world in which we live is constantly evolving. The rules in today's work places and businesses are generally changing; over and above technical expertise, emotionally resilient people are increasingly required. Emotional competencies are fast becoming the critical factors for determining who to hire and who to retain. Potential employees are no longer judged by their conventional academic training and expertise alone, but also by how they handle themselves and others. The new orientation predicts who is most likely to be a star performer either as an employee or in private business. This paper puts out two key arguments: first, excessive fragmentation of academic disciplines and the tendency towards over-specialization at the undergraduate level leave Nigerian graduates emotionally ill-equipped for the new knowledge economy; and second, weak commitment to entrepreneurship education leads to little or no exposure to real-life work and business conditions, making the typical graduates of Nigerian universities emotionally bankrupt. A paradigm shift towards a more holistic and broad-based university education will ensure that Nigerian graduates are internationally competitive and relevant.

Keyword:emotional intelligence, emotional competencies, dramaturgy, servitization of products, emotional resilience, and cultural entrepreneurs

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