Gbenga Sodeinde in Ado Ekiti
The Vice-Chancellor of Ekiti State University (EKSU), Prof. Edward Olanipekun, has advised undergraduates in Nigerian tertiary institutions, particularly universities, to undergo vocational training before completing their academic programmes to make them self-reliant.
He also canvassed for establishing more universities in the country, urging the government to ensure they are well-funded.
Speaking during a media chat in Ado Ekiti, the professor of industrial Chemistry said the country needed more universities with its increasing population, pointing out that funding has always been the problem.
According to him, less than 10 per cent of students writing UTME yearly are lucky to secure admission into the available institutions.
He said other challenges confronting universities include inadequate accommodation for the students on campus and a dearth of infrastructure, among others.
Speaking further on the undergraduate entrepreneurship programme, Olanipekun said, “In terms of entrepreneurship, we are ensuring that all our graduates master one skill or the other before they leave the university. The university is ready to support them to acquire facilities that would enable them to set up their own businesses after graduation.
“It is compulsory that all the students, including medical students, learn one skill depending on their time. Some can even learn two or more.”
Olanipekun noted that research costs a lot of money and called on the government to set aside some funds for universities to conduct research.
Reeling out some of his achievements in over four years of his administration, Olanipekun said “inherited promotion arrears” of staff had been settled, sacked staff by the institution’s governing council recalled, and salary arrears “are also being paid with the support of the proprietor, Governor Biodun Oyebanji.”
The EKSU vice-chancellor commended Governor Biodun Oyebanji for approving the university’s connection to Ekiti’s independent power plant.
Speaking on how the institution responded to fuel subsidy removal, the Olanipekun said, “We provided buses taking our staff from town to campus and at the close of work, they were also taken to the town. The university will not be resuming academic work until the 29th of January. This is to allow our staff, particularly the academic staff, enough rest because they have been working round the clock for the past two months. Returning and new students will resume for the 2023/2024 academic session.”
He added, “We are pleading with the state government to also extend to our people whatever palliatives are available to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal.”
