President Bola Tinubu on Monday in Ibadan urged unions in the universities to partner with government to develop a funding blueprint for the country’s university system.
Tinubu said this while speaking at the 76th Founder’s Day and Convocation ceremonies of the University of Ibadan (UI).
He said such a blueprint should take cognisance of local peculiarities and modern realities, based on global best practices.
The President, who was represented by the Minister of State for Education, Dr Suwaiba Ahmad, also urged Nigerian universities to reassess themselves in the light of national and global expectations.
“Let me seize this occasion to inform that the Federal Government, under my watch and as a listening government, has recently reversed the 18-year-minimum age for admission to higher institutions to status quo ante.
“At this juncture, let me persuade university unions, especially the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), to recognise that all sectors in the country need more financing.
“And that government is working assiduously to perform its obligations with the resources available to it.
“A collapsed economy will not be in anybody’s interests,” he said.
Tinubu charged graduands of the university to go forth to embrace curiosity, challenge and change.
In his address, the university’s Chancellor and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, urged government to do more in the provision of adequate and proper funding of tertiary institutions.
Abubakar said: “We are not unaware of the dwindling state of economies of nations, the world over.
“However, we are optimistic that prioritising education will raise the standard of the output of our institutions and thereby address some of the ills bedeviling our society.”
The Pro-Chancellor, Chief Adebisi Akande, called for collaboration between institutions and investors with every state to found farming villages in every local government.
Akande, represented by a member of the university’s governing council, Dr Nelson Alakpa, said the multiplier effects would result in innovative fabrication of modern farming implements, among others.
In his address, the the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Kayode Adebowale, said the graduands who were part of the ceremony were philosophers, thinkers and solution providers.
He urged them to be worthy ambassadors of the institution in their daily conduct.
“The University of Ibadan has continued to be a trail-blazer in the higher education development of the nation.
“This is why the University of Ibadan has continued to be the leader and university of first choice in training of high-level manpower, and to increase its Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) outputs to at least 300 per session,” Adebowale said.
He said the university had invested resources in its faculties for quality teaching and production of quality researchers.
“This is by building a time-tested academic culture and tradition, maintained and improved upon over the years.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that four persons received honorary degrees during the ceremony, including Emeritus Prof. Olufemi Bamiro, a Doctor of Science.
The others are: Chief Mojisola Ladipo, a Doctor of Letters; Mr Victor Etuokwu, a Doctor of Science; and, Alhaji Muhammadu Indimi, a Doctor of Letters.(NAN)
