Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Great, Great, Great University of Ife (OAU) at 50 !

I concur. OAU is, indeed, a great university, the pride of modern Africa! I have had the privilege to work with some of its graduates and I was quite impressed with their training. This is wishing this great global institution another 50 years of great accomplishments.

Congratulations to OAU and the Nigerian people!

JOHN MUKUM MBAKU, ESQ.
J.D. (Law), Ph.D. (Economics)
Graduate Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law
Nonresident Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution
Attorney & Counselor at Law (Licensed in Utah)
Presidential Distinguished Professor of Economics & Willard L. Eccles Professor of Economics and John S. Hinckley Fellow
Department of Economics
Weber State University
3807 University Circle
Ogden, UT 84408-3807, USA
(801) 626-7442 Phone
(801) 626-7423 Fax

>>> Ayoola Tokunbo 11/16/12 5:14 AM >>>

'OAU, worth more than its weight in gold'

| Print | E-mail

Written by Ruth Olurounbi Friday, 16 November 2012

IT was indeed a week of glamorous events as the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, celebrated her golden jubilee anniversary.
The week-long event started on Monday with a press briefing which took place at Floor O of the university Senate Building. Briefing journalists, the institution's current and tenth Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bamitale Omole, said OAU had achieved some of the dreams of its founding fathers, as the university had grown into a very large estate. He said the university has a total enrolment of about 33, 000 students, 1,440 academic staff and about 3, 500 non-teaching staff. Affirming that the university, as at the last convocation in 2010, had produced a total of 81, 212 degree holders and more than 950 Ph.D degree holders, he observed that research work in OAU had been globally acknowledged, just as the National Universities Commission (NUC) had the university as the best in research in the country.
"As of now, the university has produced from among its academia a Nobel laureate, and six Nigerian National Merit Award winners. Our students have also excelled in national and international competitions. We believe our founding fathers have left unparallel legacy for us and we are endeavouring to keep the flag flying  the university landscape which epitomises this is being improved upon and all abandoned projects are being completed. OAU has been acclaimed the most beautiful university campus in Africa and fifth best place of real estate in the world. It hosts the only museum of Natural History in West Africa which edifice sits like a colossus on the scenic terrain of our university campus."
He noted that as the university moved on in the new millennium and to be in the vortex of a 21st century university, it was working on a shift in paradigm to make better impact on the society. In this regard, he noted, a new strategic plan for the period 2010/2014 had been developed and was being vigorously pursued to give priority to harnessing and adapting modern technologies in the effectuation of its objectives.
He also observed that the university had the best developed Information and Communication Technology (ICT) system in the country, with its own VSAT access to the internet and a very efficient intranet. "The university has, in its effort at ensuring the efficiency of the intra and internet facilities, upgraded the bandwidth capacity with the help of the World Bank STEP-B project," the VC added.
Commending the alumni of the university, the professor of International Relations, said that the university intended to raise funds that would be used to maintain its infrastructure and to provide other facilities that would facilitate the accomplishment of its objectives as envisioned by the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, after whom the university was named in 1988 and his other compatriots.

Recalling how university education started in Nigeria, the VC said it dated back to 1948 when the University College, Ibadan, now University of Ibadan was established. "For more than a decade thereafter, that college remained the only citadel of university education in Nigeria. The Eastern Nigeria Government had in 1955 enacted a law establishing the University of Nigeria, Nsukka," he noted.
The OAU, he however said, only came into existence in 1961, saying, "in post independent Nigeria, the need for high level manpower to assume leadership in the economy and the public service from the colonial administration became exacerbated and thus following the recommendation of the Sir Eric Commission, the government of Western Nigeria in 1960 announced its intention to establish, as soon as possible, a university in Western Nigeria that would be of the highest standard. Its policy would be to open its doors to students from all parts of the federation and of the world  "The baby that was born then was the University situated in the cradle of the Yoruba civilisation".
He posited that the Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo which was an integral component of the university was administratively disarticulated from the university in 1955. The college, he said, nonetheless still retained an affiliate status, offering degrees of the university. He assured that effort was ongoing in order to increase the postgraduate intake to about 40 per cent of its student enrolment. He observed that the university was evolving a system of participatory democracy in the administration so as to minimise discontent among the members of the community and to ensure a reduction in closures that negatively impact on the academic calendar.
For close to four hours, on the second day, academic and economic activities were paralysed on campus and Ile-Ife township as students, staff and university authorities walked round major streets in the ancient city in celebration of the institution's 50th year anniversary.  Led by the VC, Professor Omole, the walk attracted unprecedented number of students who used the opportunity to tour the ancient city. The endurance trek; the second in the series of the activities lined up for the golden jubilee celebration, was temporarily stopped at the Enuwa palace of the Ooni of Ife, His Royal Majesty, Oba Okunade Sijuwade to get his royal blessings. Though he was unavoidably absent, his chiefs were on hand to receive the Great Ife. 
The students, especially the occupants of the Obafemi Awolowo Hall, 'Awoites', while making their chants, praised the sage for conceptualizing the idea of the university and commended the late Ooni of Ife, Oba Adesoji Aderemi for providing the land.  Fireworks were lighted in the evening while a novelty football match took place between the OAU and U-I football teams; the two teams scored a goal each while the match between the female and male staff ended goalless. On Thursday, a lecture with the theme, Possesors at the Gate, was delivered by Dr Christopher Kolade. Dr Kolade who is the Chairman, Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme. Kolade, called for full autonomy for Nigerian universities, saying "it is only through university autonomy that government aspiration to boost the education sector, especially the ivory tower, could be possible. Each university should be able to decide which course to teach, what research to pursue and how the advancement of members of faculty should be determined."
"Even though, universities were created initially by government decision, it was recognized that such institutions must have considerable autonomy". University autonomy, he said, would provide the platform for good decisions to thrive in the universities but it could not be an end in itself. He maintained that the university should be able to justify the belief that scholarly expertise enables society to address economic problems. The former Nigerian Ambassador to the United Kingdom urged University authorities to maintain high standards of education and train their students in the best way to enable them to attain knowledge and exemplary character. He noted that instead of blaming the political leadership alone, the people should also remember that leadership did not only exist at the top of governance. Decrying corruption which he said had permeated all sectors of the economy; he noted that poverty and greed were responsible for corruption.
While urging Universities authorities to carry out research into this problem, he observed: "For instance, if corruption is our enemy number one, are there research efforts ongoing now that have the potential to generate original ammunition for fighting this enemy?

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com