‘OOU has transformed in 42 years’

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The Vice-Chancellor of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye, Prof. Ayodeji Agboola, said the 42-year-old institution has contributed to manpower development in every sector of the nation’s economy since its establishment. He submitted that the tertiary institution has grown from five faculties to 14, and from fewer than 300 students to 30,000.

In a chat with newsmen at the weekend on OOU’s achievements, especially under his stewardship in the last two years, Agboola noted that the institution has experienced infrastructural uplift with the addition of courses, while all its programmes have been fully digitalised to encourage online learning. He added that examinations are conducted and results released on time, while salaries and pensions are being paid as and when due.

“When I came in, the first thing I did was to ensure that from inception to graduation, everything is alright.”

Initially, one major problem we had was that we didn’t know the number of students we had, and this affected our planning.

“What we did was that right from the time we were doing post-UTME, after getting all the data from JAMB, those we admitted were put on our portal. We linked the portal to the Results Processing Management System so that students have their profiles on the portal. With this, the students can see how much they are to pay. When they pay, we link the students with our management system,” he recounted.

The vice chancellor hinted that OOU is collaborating with the National Incubation and Innovation Centre, Abuja for the entrepreneurship training of its students.

Teams from the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos, and Federal Ministry of Education were in the institution to finalise arrangements for affiliation for the take-off of the leadership training in the school through the Awujale Institute of Governance, he added.

Agboola lauded the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, the alumni, and corporate individuals who have contributed to the infrastructural development of the institution, stating that this has made the school a force to be reckoned with among tertiary institutions in the country.

He added that the institution is collaborating with some foreign universities for further training of its students to broaden their scope and make them competitive at the global level.

He stated that the cordial relationship between the management, staff and students has led to the stability of the academic calendar, allowing students to complete their programmes on time.

While appreciating the Governor Dapo Abiodun-led administration for supporting the institution, the vice chancellor sought more support to make the university one of the best in the world.

Agboola also disclosed that a Reviewing Committee to look into the conditions of service of non-academic staff of the institution had been established.

The move, according to him, followed agitation from the non-teaching staff for the adoption of a three-year interval for promotion. He stated that the university, since its inception, has been working on the amendment of conditions of service, expressing the hope that the recommendations of the committee, made up of relevant stakeholders, would help in resolving the matter.