Welcome Address Presented by the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Governing Council, Emeritus

WELCOME ADDRESS PRESENTED BY THE PRO-CHANCELLOR AND CHAIRMAN OF GOVERNING COUNCIL, EMERITUS PROFESSOR E. OLUWOLE AKANDE AT THE 13TH CONVOCATION CEREMONY OF IGBINEDION UNIVERSITY, OKADA

Friday 27TH November, 2015

Protocol

Let me start this address by welcoming you all to the 13th Convocation Ceremonies of Nigeria’s Premier Private University- Igbinedion University, Okada.

God truly has been so kind to us these sixteen years of molding young men and women into efficient workforce for the country in particular and the world at large. We are gathered to celebrate today as we have been doing in the past twelve years, the successes of our children who are graduating from our seven different colleges. Records show that many of them have done very well in their various disciplines.

I want to sincerely commend the parents for all their support to these children that have culminated into their wonderful performances in their different fields of study. I am sure that these children will ever remain grateful to you all through their lives.

Human capacity development remains paramount in their scale of preference, which is why we are committed to the policy of giving scholarships to our staff who want to undertake postgraduate training in our university. Staff members are allowed to pay only 50 per cent of the tuition fee. This is evident in the percentage of members of staff who are graduating in the higher degrees category in relation to other graduates from outside the university at this year’s convocation ceremonies.

I will like to remind the Federal Government that the role of Private Universities in Nigeria is not in any way at variance with that of the publicly owned ones. Therefore, if both the public and private universities do the same work of training and capacity development for the nation’s workforce it is important for government to give attention to the constraints and challenges facing the private universities. This could be in form of institutional grants, subsidy of staff salaries, etc. it should be remembered that the emergence of private universities in Nigeria was a critical intervention of private individuals and corporate bodies to the serious challenges faced by the tertiary education system in Nigeria in the middle 1990s. It is noteworthy that Private Universities have no doubt, done very well indeed.

Quite frankly, with the current state of the economy in Nigeria, training in private universities remains the preserve of some rich and few privileged individuals. At the last count, the number of private universities licensed by the Federal Government was a little over sixty. This has led to the current dwindling enrolment in private universities. The situation is even worse with the younger private universities as many of them are unable to get students enrolled into some of their programs. It then calls for caution in order not to defeat the purpose of the establishment of private universities in our dear country. Another danger is that if these private universities are not properly funded, they will not be able to attract the right caliber of staff for training of students talk less of providing the desired facilities. It must be noted that running of private universities is not a profit-making venture, but a service to the nation.

The National Universities Commission (NUC) has continued to insist on the same benchmark in the operation of both private and public universities since both sectors are all training students for the labor market. This is quite commendable as it is aimed at ensuring that both private and publicly owned universities maintain standards. I feel strongly that it is the duty of the Government to ensure that public and private universities are well funded to be able to produce the kind of graduates that can compete favorably with graduates trained in universities in other part of the world.

At this juncture, I call on the three tiers of Government in Nigeria to immediately resuscitate the payment of bursary to all students in tertiary institutions irrespective of whether they are in private or public universities to alleviate the burdens of parents and as well give the students a sense of belonging. This call has become necessary especially in the face of the economic downturn in the country resulting from the fall in oil prices in the international oil market. It is often worrisome that students in private universities are sometimes discriminated against even by the government in the offer of scholarships to students. These discriminatory policies have a way of creating a wrong impression in the minds of these young Nigerians. It is equally sad that even some multinational companies that offer scholarship to Nigerian students restrict such to students in public universities. This may engender lack of patriotism among the students.

To conclude, I wish to thank the Honorable Chancellor, Proprietor and Visitor of the University, Sir (Dr.) Chief Gabriel Igbinedion for his vision, philanthropy and tireless support to the development of the University. I will also like to thank my colleagues in the Governing Council of Igbinedion University for the quality time they give in the service of this great university. Permit me to commend the Vice Chancellor, Professor Eghosa Osaghae, and his hardworking team for the herculean task of ensuring that Igbinedion University remains number one in the comity of private universities. Finally, I also wish ti extend gratitude to all members of Staff, Teaching and Non-teaching, and also, our students who have been part of our success stories.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you for listening.

God bless you all.

Emeritus Professor E. Oluwole Akande, OON, DPhil (Oxford), FRCOG

Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council

27th November 2015