How Five-Year Reform Surge Redefined FUOYE

The outgoing Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Prof. Abayomi Fasina, recently presented a five-year scorecard showing rapid growth in enrolment, revenue, programmes, research, and infrastructure, among others. While celebrating achievements like the largest graduating class and a new College of Medicine, he explained why the university should sustain progress without overstretching its capacity, staff development, infrastructure, and long-term strategic planning. Funmi Ogundare reports

The 10th convocation ceremony of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), which was held on February 7, was more than an academic ritual. It became a formal presentation of stewardship, an institutional scorecard laid before the public by the outgoing Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Abayomi Fasina.

Fasina framed the convocation as the culmination of a five-year reform cycle spanning 2021 to 2026, marked by rapid expansion, infrastructural build-out, financial diversification and rising global visibility.

He presented data on enrolment growth, internally generated revenue (IGR), research funding, staff development, and international rankings, which painted a picture of a university that has grown at a pace rarely seen among Nigeria’s younger federal institutions.

Yet the same figures expose a central question now confronting the university: how to consolidate rapid gains without overstretching institutional capacity.

What the graduation figures say about growth

The 10th convocation produced 7,684 graduates, comprising 7,396 undergraduates and 288 postgraduates across 10 faculties and multiple postgraduate programmes. This represents the largest graduating cohort in the university’s history and reflects the scale at which FUOYE now operates.

The distribution of first degree graduands reveals the academic centres of gravity within the institution. The Faculties of Sciences and Social Sciences each produced 1,524 graduates, followed by Arts (952), Education (841), Management Sciences (830) and Agriculture (657). Engineering accounted for 499 graduates, while newer and more specialised faculties, including Communication and Media Studies (302), Basic Medical Sciences (83), and Law (50), recorded lower outputs, reflecting their more recent establishment and perhaps stricter accreditation requirements.

According to the scorecard, 131 students made first class; 2,519 with second class upper; 3,777 with second class lower; 966 with third class, and three with pass degrees. Postgraduate graduands included 32 PhD holders, 145 master’s degree recipients, and candidates from professional programmes such as MPA, DBA, DPA, PGD and eMBA.

Fasina described this as evidence of FUOYE’s gradual transition from a predominantly undergraduate institution to one expanding its postgraduate and professional training profile.

Anatomy of excellence: Best graduating student

The ceremony’s high point was the recognition of Maryam Adeniyi with matric number ANA/2020/1006 of the Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, who emerged as the overall best graduating student with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.89.

Her performance symbolised the university’s growing strength in the medical and life sciences, an area now receiving strategic investment through the newly established College of Medicine.

The outgoing VC described the achievement as an indication that the institution’s newer programmes are capable of producing high-calibre academic outcomes, even amid rapid institutional growth.

The 20-point agenda: Reform framed as deliverables

Upon assuming office in 2021, Fasina unveiled a 20-point agenda, which he described as a comprehensive framework for repositioning FUOYE across academics, finance, infrastructure, governance, welfare and global visibility.

At the convocation ceremony, he announced that all 20 agenda items had been achieved to varying degrees, supported by implementation reports and data.

According to him, the agenda covered areas including revenue generation, enrolment expansion, entrepreneurship development, agricultural innovation, medical education, ICT restructuring, alumni engagement, staff and student welfare, research systems, governance reforms, and long-term strategic planning beyond his administration.

The vice-chancellor’s approach of presenting outcomes alongside objectives effectively turned the agenda into a measurable governance checklist.

IGR and the push for financial independence

One of the most striking claims in the scorecard is a 310 per cent increase in IGR over the five-year period.

“This growth resulted from deliberate diversification rather than tuition increases,” he said, adding that its initiatives include the establishment of income-generating ventures such as a bakery, water factory, printing press and farm, an increase in students’ enrolment, the expansion of part-time programmes and affiliated colleges, and the creation of the FUOYE Business School, which has already produced graduates.

His administration also established a microfinance bank, now operational, which he described as part of the university’s strategy to explore alternative funding models within Nigeria’s constrained public university financing environment.

From enrolment growth to national demand

FUOYE’s growing profile has translated into rising national demand. Fasina stated that increased admission quotas, the introduction of professional and innovative courses, and affordability have made it the fourth-most-subscribed university in Nigeria out of 303 institutions, according to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) data.

Between 2021 and 2026, institutional growth figures show sharp upward movement from eight faculties to 18; from 73 programmes to 91; from one directorate to 19; from zero to five institutes; and from 67 departments to 81. Additionally, 91 programmes were accredited, with three interim accreditations including Pharmacy, Statistics and Radiography.

The university’s new 25-year strategic plan identifies this achievement as evidence of sustained enrolment growth and increasing confidence in its academic offerings, institutional stability, and overall value proposition.

This positive perception, according to the vice-chancellor, is closely linked to programme relevance, affordability, accessibility, and the university’s expanding portfolio of accredited programmes, supported by its dual campus structure.

While these figures demonstrate scale, he acknowledged that such rapid growth raises questions about carrying capacity, staffing adequacy and infrastructure sustainability, issues identified as priorities for the next phase of development.

He stressed the need to align growth with carrying capacity by ensuring sustainable expansion without loss of quality, strengthening academic staffing, expanding infrastructure/smart learning, and diversifying revenue while keeping fees affordable.

Medical education and strategic academic diversification

Among the most consequential achievements is the establishment of a College of Medicine, following approvals from the university Senate, Governing Council and the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN). The college has received approval to admit 50 students for the 2023/2024 academic session, with the Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido-Ekiti, designated for clinical training, and a provost has been appointed.

Beyond medicine, new colleges and programmes now span Computing, Cybersecurity, Software Engineering, Systems Engineering, and Data Science & Analytics, aligning the university’s academic offerings with Nigeria’s digital and knowledge-driven economy.

Infrastructure as expansion strategy

Between 2021 and 2026, Fasina said that the university under his leadership executed over 160 infrastructure projects. These include a new Senate Building, the 1,000-seat Ndoma-Egba Auditorium, Freedom Park, faculty buildings for Law, Social Sciences, and Sciences, a 2-in-1 science laboratory complex, CBT centres, hostels, professional buildings, perimeter fencing, landscaping, and sports facilities. The projects form part of what the administration describes as the ‘Blue Roof Legacy’, a construction drive framed as foundational to accreditation, enrollment growth and research capacity.

Research funding and capacity building

Staff development remains central, with 381 academic and non-teaching staff benefiting from training and conference support, and 130 academic staff sponsored for postgraduate studies.

The scorecard also details rising research visibility. According to Fasina, 34 lecturers won research grants and equipment worth ₦430 million, while Emmanuel Bakare, a professor, secured a $534,927 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Additional research equipment valued at $55,600 was reportedly attracted by the outgoing vice-chancellor himself. These efforts contributed to global recognition, as FUOYE appeared in multiple Times Higher Education (THE) rankings in 2024 and 2026.

Charting the path forward

As FUOYE consolidates the gains of its expansion and rising visibility, the outgoing vice chancellor emphasises the need for stability, beginning with a collective commitment by staff and students to avoid actions or inaction that could disrupt the academic calendar. According to him, avoidable disruptions to the academic calendar erode confidence, weaken learning outcomes and undermine hard-earned institutional credibility.

He stressed that stronger collaboration between the governing council and management is essential for timely decision-making and effective policy execution. This internal coherence, he said, must be complemented by sustained and proactive engagement with regulators and relevant government authorities to ensure compliance, early resolution of emerging issues and continued institutional goodwill.

At the heart of FUOYE’s long-term ambition lies its 25-year strategic plan, described as the university’s compass. Fasina advised on the faithful and disciplined implementation of the blueprint to ensure continuity beyond individual administrations, while guiding priorities in teaching, research, infrastructure, and governance.

He also stressed the need to promote, celebrate and incentivise innovative, high-impact research that addresses societal needs beyond career progression, while strengthening university-industry linkages through partnerships.

To secure long-term sustainability, he suggested that the FUOYE 2050 endowment fund be actively promoted and supported by diversified revenue streams from grants, partnerships, endowments, and consultancy services. He also called for a sustained, aggressive drive for infrastructural development and the need to uphold zero tolerance for illegality, prioritising capacity development through increased investment in staff training and continuous professional development.

Stakeholders described Fashina’s leadership as impactful and visionary, noting that the scale of institutional change repositioned the university and set a strong foundation for future growth, while his decision to document his stewardship was commended as a valuable legacy for succeeding administrators.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Mr Olusegun Alebiosu, commended Fasina for what he described as a phenomenal five-year stewardship that will remain significant in the institution’s history.

Alebiosu said the extensive expansion of infrastructure, growth in student enrolment and the introduction of new academic programmes under Fasina’s leadership were clear indicators of institutional progress. He noted that the transformation surpassed what he observed during an earlier visit to the university several years ago.

Speaking at one of the events marking the end of Fasina’s tenure, Prof. Abdul-Hameed Sulaimon, who represented the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, described Fasina as a longstanding friend of UNILAG. He congratulated the outgoing vice-chancellor for documenting his leadership experience, saying that it would serve as a valuable reference for future university administrators.

President of the FUOYE Alumni Association, Mr Taye Ojo, described Fasina as the architect of the new FUOYE, citing the scale of institutional transformation achieved during his tenure.

Also delivering a goodwill message on behalf of the university senate, Mrs Mojisola Oyarekua described Fasina as a supersonic vice-chancellor, adding  that “his administration recorded remarkable progress across various areas of the institution.”