President Bola Tinubu has said universities, among other educational institutions, are central to the attainment of the new Nigeria of his dream. He urged academics to put on their thinking caps and be prepared to offer their support in the efforts to reposition the country.
Represented by the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, at the 54th Convocation lecture of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Mr Tinubu, who was participating in the university’s first convocation ceremony in his official capacity as its visitor, reiterated his commitment to support the university to achieve excellence.
He listed some of the immediate measures already put in place to address concerns in the education sector including the removal of the universities from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, and the signing into law the student loan bill, among others.
“Universities are central to the attainment of a new Nigeria. All the support and necessary changes must be put in place to achieve our desired change,” he said.
On student loan
Mr Tinubu said signing the student loan bill into law was one of the strategies aimed at mitigating the challenges posed by the removal of subsidy on petroleum products when he assumed office in 2023.
He reiterated that under the student loan law, indigent Nigerian students will have access to interest-free loans to see them through their stay in higher institutions.
“It is our policy that no Nigerian child stops school due to poverty. It is in this regard that we also brought back the school feeding of our young ones,” he said.
Speaking further, Mr Tinubu said there is a need to rechannel the funds from the removal of subsidy into investment in public infrastructure, education, and critical social needs, to improve the lives of Nigerians.
Mr Tinubu had assured that the implementation of the student loan initiative will commence in January 2024. The beneficiaries are expected to repay the borrowed sum once they start working two years after the NYSC.
However, as January gradually winds down, it is not clear if the government will be able to meet the set deadline.
Implementation of CCMAS
Mr Tinubu noted that “in an ever-changing knowledge economy, Nigeria is expected to embrace transnational education and remain creative in the methodology and delivery of education.”
He noted that the implementation of the newly redeveloped Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS) offers the universities the opportunity to develop 30 per cent contents of its curriculum while 70 per cent is provided by experts under the supervision of NUC.
“This is expected to impact positively on Nigerian universities as it is expected that this will assist to produce highly skilled, fit-for-purpose graduates in line with current realities of our country,” he said.
READ ALSO: Platform Capital to launch Africa House in U.S.
“Recently, we approved the policy document for transnational education, the policy framework will facilitate collaborations and partnerships between tertiary institutions in Nigeria and other universities globally.”
He also commended the leadership of UNILAG for leading in terms of internationalisation “by fostering through global institutions and breaking the borders of partnership through global partnerships, collaboration, joint degree programmes and quality research that will impact our country.”
“The practice of internationalisation helps to improve research to enhance the global competitiveness of African researchers and institutions while actively contributing to knowledge crucial to the social-economic transformation of our country and Africa,” he said.
Congratulatory message
Mr Tinubu also congratulated all the graduands as well as three eminent individuals who received the university’s honorary doctorate awards “based on their accomplishments and contributions to Nigeria’s growth and development.”
These recipients include a renowned historian and Professor at the University of Texas, Austin, United States of America, Toyin Falola; Phyllis Kanki, a professor of Immunology at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health in Boston, and Attahiru Jega, a professor of Political Science and former Chairman of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Aminat Ige, who bagged PhD in Mathematics was awarded the prize of overall best PhD Thesis, while Issa Adedokun from Law Faculty, won the best PhD Thesis in humanities.
According to the University’s Vice-Chancellor, Folasade Ogunsola, the total number of graduands was 17,464. 10,578 of the figure bagged first-degree while 6,886 are from the post-graduate school.
David Oluwatomiwa Akanmu emerged as the overall best graduate with a perfect CGPA of 5.0 from the Department of Civil Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering.
Developments in UNILAG
The vice-chancellor of UNILAG in her address highlighted the major achievements of the university since the last convocation.
Mrs Ogunsola said the university staff attracted over N11 billion in research income in both local and foreign currency, which refers to 42 grants obtained in the year 2023 with a focus on sciences, social sciences, and the humanities.
She said the university has partnered with Sahara Group, a leading energy conglomerate with operations in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, which annually includes N10 million cash prizes for outstanding students across 10 departments.
“There is also the MAD (Making A Difference) Grant of $36,000 annual grant for three outstanding lecturers who will each get $12,000. These two grants will run for 10 years,” she added.
She noted that the Project I2M (innovation to market) Incubator programme which is funded by the UKRI RISA Programme) onboarded several innovators from across the country and trained them on skills and techniques to develop their innovation.
She said overall, 524 innovators were onboarded, and 362 innovators/researchers from across the country were trained.
She said: “Out of these, we supported 62 innovators with prototyped funding, filed 18 patents, 36 trademarks, and 13 copyrights for innovators.
“40 start-ups were registered, and 50 start-up businesses were incubated while 20 start-ups were awarded financial grants. Twelve innovators obtained $5,000 credit from Amazon Web Services (AWS).”
Support PREMIUM TIMES’ journalism of integrity and credibility
Good journalism costs a lot of money. Yet only good journalism can ensure the possibility of a good society, an accountable democracy, and a transparent government.
For continued free access to the best investigative journalism in the country we ask you to consider making a modest support to this noble endeavour.
By contributing to PREMIUM TIMES, you are helping to sustain a journalism of relevance and ensuring it remains free and available to all.
Donate
TEXT AD: Call Willie – +2348098788999
