The University is set to mentor two newly-approved private Universities at becoming a force to be reckoned with, as citadels of learning. The institutions are: Mountain Top University and Chrisland University, both located in Ogun State.
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Olusola Oyewole, disclosed this while receiving officers of both institutions, who paid him courtesy visits to seek partnership in terms of staff development, knowledge exchange, facilities sharing and other areas that would promote teaching, learning and research in line with the set standards by the National Universities Commission (NUC).
While receiving the team from the Mountain Top University, a faith-based University, owned by the Mountain of Fire and Ministries (MFM), Professor Oyewole, said that FUNAAB was delighted when it received a memo from the NUC, urging the institution to mentor MTU for a period of five years. The Vice-Chancellor reminisced on the establishment of FUNAAB on January 1, 1988, saying it sits on approximately 10 hectares of land within a 12km radius, as he highlighted the University’s mandate, motto, vision and mission statements.
Commenting on the University’s staff strength, he said there were 562 Academic and 1,421 Non-Teaching Staff with an approximated undergraduate population of 15,000, as well as 1,500 postgraduate students. He added that the University has 10 Colleges and a Postgraduate School with 136 programmes, out of which 27 are undergraduate courses. According to him, the University has a world-class agenda that bordered on the provision of visionary leadership, commitment to quality in whatever it does and sound funds management.
Professor Oyewole stressed further that the University was open to collaboration from within and outside the country, adding that the institution places emphasis on the acquisition of skills and competencies in teaching, as well as engaging in quality and relevant research. The Vice-Chancellor stated that the University has unique programmes, which would be of paramount interest to MTU such as the Community-Based Farming Scheme (COBFAS), Graduate Farming Employment Scheme (GRADFES) and the commercial Tree-Crop Plantation Programme. He, however, charged the MTU team to prepare a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that would include their expectations, as well as define the extent of the collaboration between both Universities.
Responding, the Vice-Chancellor of MTU, Professor Elijah Ayolabi, who noted the visit was not his first time of coming to FUNAAB, disclosed that he had earlier come as a resource staff to the Physical Sciences Department in 1994, and was glad that the campus was still developing. According to him, “Today, I can see a lot of transformation around. When the NUC told us that FUNAAB would be our mentor, I think God must have been working behind the scenes. In the sense that, University of Lagos is the closest to us. We were not given to them but we were sent here and only to discover that, it’s like sending us home, because we found out that we have our own, someone who understands our language, who understands the mission and the vision of the Proprietor of the University, who would be able to support us, both physically and spiritually”, he declared.
Professor Ayolabi stated that the vision of MTU was to be a dynamic centre of academic excellence in the liberal tradition for the production of top rated, morally sound graduates of distinction, who would be globally competitive for making outstanding impact on the Nigerian society as well as global development. According to him, “one of our cardinal objectives is to be able to raise leaders, who would have both moral and spiritual strength required to build a nation and to transform our country from this present state to what would be enviable by everyone in the world”. He described a mentor as a wise and trusted counsellor, stressing that MTU had found that in FUNAAB. He added that he was happy that NUC used the word ‘mentor’, while connecting the institution with FUNAAB, noting that from time-to-time, FUNAAB’s counsel could be relied upon. Earlier, the Chairman, Board of Trustees of MTU, Professor Akintunde Obilade, had stated that “It is not by accident that this University has been appointed as our mentor”. The delegation was later taken on a guided familiarisation tour to places of interest like the Directorate of University Farms (DUFARMS), Industrial Park Unit and the Institute of Food Security, Environmental Resources and Agricultural Research (IFSERAR).
In a related development, while welcoming the Chrisland delegation during their own visit to the University, Professor Oyewole expressed the readiness of FUNAAB to mentor the institution and other Universities that required such intervention, as a member of council of the University. Professor Adebayo Odebiyi, stated that the visit became imperative, as it would pave way for future interaction between both ivory towers. Professor Odebiyi, a former Vice-Chancellor of the Achievers’ University, Owo, Ondo State, lamented the bad state of the education system in the country that had led to brain drain. According to him, “Our education system is bleeding; we need to put our heads together to salvage it”, while calling on public Universities to come to the aid of the newly-established private institutions. He noted that Chrisland University would appreciate the mentorship, whereby both Universities can benefit maximally from each other. Three officials of FUNAAB namely; the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic, Professor Adekojo Waheed also re-affirmed that FUNAAB was ready to give the support whenever it was being called upon while the Registrar, Mr. Mathew Ayoola, re-emphasised that FUNAAB had been given an explicit mandate by the NUC to mentor both Universities and hoped that the partnership would turn out to be a “robust interaction” while the Dean, Postgraduate School, Professor Ololade Enikuomehin, observed that it would be a worthwhile experience for lecturers to have work experiences in both private and public Universities in their academic careers.
The Vice-Chancellor of Chrisland University, Professor Olusola Odeyemi, expressed optimism that her University was going to receive enough co-operation from FUNAAB, as she appreciated the Vice-Chancellor of FUNAAB for the support given so far. Another delegate from the Chrisland University, Professor Olufunke Egunjobi, disclosed that she was proud to learn that Professor Oyewole was the current President of the Association of African Universities (AAU), describing FUNAAB’s edible agro-products, most especially Palm-oil, as of high quality. The Registrar of Chrisland University, Mr. Elvis Lawale, a former staff of FUNAAB, on his part, described the visit as ‘home coming’ for him.
