…seeks alternative funding for salary payment
Gov AbdulRazaq hails university’s commitment to research, community
The Kwara State University, Malete, on Saturday held its combined 8th and 9th convocation ceremony.
The university authority at the convocation ceremony also conferred honourary awards on some prominent Nigerians, including the Nigeria First lady, Aisha Buhari; Chief of Staff to the President Prof. Ibrahim Agboola Gambari; billionaire philanthropist Muhammadu Indimi (OFR); Chairman BUA Group, Alhaji AbdulSamad Rabiu; and Mr. Babatunde Jolayemi Omotowa; in appreciation of their humanitarian works and outstanding contributions to national development.
The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, KWASU, Kpotun Baba, speaking at the event said that one of the major challenges to the university was its inability to pay staff salaries without resort to loans since the discontinuation of subvention to it by the previous administration.
”The proposals are to make alternative salary funding arrangements which may be less costly to the government and the university,” he said.
Baba appealed for the state government’s urgent financial support to realise the initial full accreditation of its programme on aeronautical engineering.
“This course is about the first of its kind in a Nigerian university and could easily bring the university to limelight, but, the problem is that we are acutely short of the right personnel and facilities to bring the programme to the required standard.
“On its part, the University has been taking advantage of the TETFund overseas training arrangement to produce additional relevant personnel.
“However, while we continue to search for alternative funding model for this programme, we solicit governments’ financial support,” he said.
He thanked the state government for the continued assistance to the university, adding that the council and university management would continue to justify the confidence reposed in them.
The institution’s new Chancellor, Chancellor Engr. Johnson Adewumi, said the university has excelled on the basis of satisfying some of the indices of world-class university through teaching, research and community service.
He thanked AbdulRazaq for the unwavering support the institution enjoys from his administration, urging private sector to also support the institution in its pursuit of academic excellence.
Delivering his convocation speech, the school’s Vice Chancellor Prof. Muhammad Mustapha Akanbi (SAN) said the school is fast growing under his stewardship in terms of academic growth, community development and staff welfare.
He said not less than 16 new programmes have been developed to expand the frontiers of knowledge and human ingenuity.
“In the effort to further expand the University’s academic programmes, 16 new programmes have been developed by the University and are awaiting resource verification by the NUC. These proposed programmes have the combined capacity to generate the much-needed human resources in the diverse areas of their focus, which will in turn drive national growth,” he added.
Akanbi said the institution was one of the few tertiary institutions that ran uninterrupted sessions in the heat of the COVID-19 lockdowns (using virtual platforms).
He added that the combined convocation produced 6,620 First Degree earners, 98 of whom bagged first class, stressing that it also recorded 400 second degree earners and 60 successful doctoral (PhD) thesis writers, cutting across 2019 to 2021 sessions.
He thanked AbdulRazaq for supporting the school to attain new heights, urging the government for more support in the coming years.
For his part, Kwara state Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq said his administration has secured funding for the completion of the two campuses of the state university at Osi and Ilesha Baruba.
The governor pointed out that completing the two campuses will open up the state, create new economic centres, and boost search for knowledge and inquiry in the state.
“Our administration has secured funding to complete the satellite campuses of KWASU at Osi and Ilesha Baruba by next year. This will not only grow the university in terms of the number of faculties and students, it will also help to open up those two communities, tackle rural-urban migration, and create new fertile grounds for intellectual and socioeconomic growth,” he said.
AbdulRazaq commended the university for its commitment to research and community service, saying: “Two different events have recently told the success story that KWASU has become. The first was a short video showing a team from the institution teaching some secondary school students in Irepodun the art of making documentaries. In it, we saw how those students then did a beautiful documentary of their own.
“The second cheering news was the inspiring story of two students, who designed a light engine aircraft. The big deal is that these students and their supervisors are going ahead to invent a technology that immediately contaminates the aviation fuel and reduces explosion when an aircraft crashes. When this succeeds, it opens a new chapter in aviation history and places Kwara on the global map of invention.
“What these confirm is that KWASU has truly become a university of community impact. I congratulate the university for this steady growth. It is my hope that the school will continue along this path. We will always support you.”
The Governor acknowledged the exceptional feats of the awardees, which he said explained their recognition by the university.
“To our graduates, we hope to see you at the top soon. Always remember that you are from Malete, where you have been molded to make positive impacts in your communities. I urge you to be great ambassadors of this school. May God see you through,” the Governor added.
Dignitaries who attended the two-pronged event included Governor of Borno State Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum; Indimi (OFR); Senator Ali Ndume; Senator Umar Sadiq (Kwara North); Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Mamman Saba Jibril; Chairman KAM Wire Nig. Ltd, Alhaji Kamardeen Yusuf; former Vice Chancellor of Unilorin and APC Chieftain Prof. Oba AbdulRaheem; and Chairman YOLAS Consultancy Engr. Lanre Shagaya.
Royal fathers at the ceremonies were the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Umar El-Kanemi; representative of the Emir of Ilorin Alhaji Aliyu Adebayo Muhammed; Olupo of Ajase Ipo Oba Ismaila Yahaya Atoloye Alebiosu; Olosi of Osi Oba Saliu Abdulkareem Adasofegbe.
