Osun State University

[Toyin Falola]

Here comes Nigeria's 80th varsity

11/1/2007

 

From next week, Osun groves will cease to be the only landmark attracting the international community to Osogbo, the capital of the State of the Living Spring.

The groves are renowned for the yearly Osun Osogbo festival, a cultural event which attracts traditionalists from across the world to the city.

Although their cultural relevance may not diminish, the groves will play second fiddle to an international community springing up in Osogbo - the Osun State University (UNIOSUN).

The motto of the university is "Living Spring of Knowledge and Culture".

The first sod of the university, which on December 21, last year emerged as the 80th Nigerian and 30th state ivory tower, will be turned by Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, the Visitor to the institution, next week.

The license for the university was handed over to Governor Oyinlola 22 days ago by the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Julius Okojie.

UNIOSUN, expected to admit 2,000 pioneer students in September, will take off with seven colleges - College of Health Sciences, Engineering Sciences and Technology, Management and Social Sciences, Humanities and Culture, Agriculture, Education and Law.

It is to be located on a 200-hectare parcel of land. Its first set of buildings are billed for commissioning in June.

The state government has set aside over N2billion for its take off.

It is said to have hired the services of Technologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States, Prof Akinwande to coordinate the recruitment of academic in diaspora. Part of his briefs is the recruitment of experienced professors and quality lecturers.

A 12-man planning committee, headed by the immediate past Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Peter Okebukola, had earlier been raised by the government to design a comprehensive academic curriculum for the university. The Okebukola committee was also asked to draw the institution's master-plan, guidelines for running the university as a multi-campus conventional university and a human resource development handbook.

It was later collapsed to a 16-member implementation committee, also headed by Okebukola.

The committee was inaugurated yesterday by the governor.

Part of the arrangements for the smooth take off of the university in September is its official listing by the end of this month with the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

There are plans to advertise the admission of the pioneering students in national dailies shortly. The advert will ask such students to obtain a change of institution form from JAMB.

Receiving the university's license from Okojie, Oyinlola said the state would deploy the competent hands towards the successful implementation of the project.

"We are committed to building a world-class university, producing graduates of the highest quality and an institution where cutting edge research is carried out by the highest calibre of academic staff whose credentials and performance are comparable to the best available anywhere not only in this country, but also in the academia generally," he said.

Oyinlola had handed over the university's documents prepared by the planning committee to Okojie.

The documents include the law setting up the university, its academic brief, the master-plan, guidelines for running the university as a multi-campus conventional ivory tower as well as the human resource development handbook.

Assuring that UNIOSUN would not discriminate on tribal lines, Oyinlola said: "We plan to recruit the finest hands available and open the doors of the university to students from all parts of the country and beyond as we seek to build a truly international community of scholars and students.

"We also committed our government to making a lasting impact and bequeathing to succeeding administrations legacies that would stand the test of time. The Osun State University project is one concrete evidence of our commitment in this sector,"

Stressing that the problems of higher education provision are obvious, Oyinlola spoke of the need for stakeholders to join hands in rescuing the sector by contributing to its renewal.

He said: "The problem of higher education is not just about inadequate spaces but also that of quality as the products have been unable to justify the certificates they claim.

"The liberalisation of the provision of higher education with the reforms of the past few years has made it possible for states, organisations, and even private individuals to get involved and make their impact felt."

Oyinlola underscored the need for UNIOSUN, saying the idea was earlier put on hold in view of the enormity of the problems his administration inherited.

He listed tertiary institutions owned and financed by the state as including two colleges of education in Ilesha and Ila-Orangun, two colleges of technology at Esa-Oke and Iree, the state School of Nursing and the Medical College of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Osogbo.

He said, despite the existence of the institutions and the demand for higher education, they (institutions) are unable to meet the tertiary education needs of the state.

Oyinlola pleaded with indigenes to join hands with the government in ensuring the building of a university that will be a role model and an epitome of qualitative education.

Okojie advised the state government to operate within the confines of the NUC regulations, saying the university should take off with few academic programmes. Okojie said the directive should be complied with to facilitate the accreditation of the take-off programmes before new ones are introduced.

Lauding what he called the "monumental stride of the state", Okojie thanked the governor and the people of Osun State for their contributions to the development and promotion of education.

Okojie also advised the government to offer specialised courses saying: "At the early stage of the university, do not begin with professional courses.

"I want to warn that you should not over shoot the system with over enrolment of students and advise most sincerely that the university should take off from its permanent site to avoid duplication of resources."

"Having said this, I therefore hand over the instrument of the university to the Governor. It is the instrument or certificate of recognition as the 80th Nigerian university and the 30th state university."

Okojie, assured that the commission would do its utmost to nurture the university to an oak of academic excellence. He said there was no doubt about the credibility of the documents presented to the commission.

Responding, Okebukola assured the NUC that the university would be one of the best in the world.

Assuring the commission that his committee did a good job, Okebukola said: "The baby is born. Now, it is for the NUC to nurture it to growth."

"The committee has done its best to come up with what would be acceptable to the NUC. With this,  JAMB and ETF will recognise the university."

The law establishing Osun State University was enacted by the State House of Assembly after its fourth reading on December 11, last year.

 

 

http://www.thenationonlineng.com/dynamicpage.asp?id=8194

 

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Toyin Falola
Department of History
The University of Texas at Austin
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USA
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