UI VC tasks FG on special funding

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan (UI), Prof. Idowu Olayinka, has asked the Federal Government to allocate special funds to the university  to improve research and infrastructure.

Olayinka made the request in the university’s bulletin signed by the Registrar, Mr Olufemi Olukoya, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

He said that the special funding will enable the institution to do more to compete favourably with the world’s best universities.

He noted that the latest ranking of universities by Times Higher Education (THE) placed UI among the top 1,000 universities in the world.

Olayinka described the ranking as a welcome development, noting that it showed that UI was the only Nigerian university that made it among the top 1,000.

He said that the university was blessed with dedicated world class scholars, and urged that Nigeria must engaged them effectively to solve its problems.

“In spite of the under funding by the Federal Government, the University of Ibadan has finally been ranked among the 1,000 best universities in the world,’’ he said.

According to him, the latest ranking was based on teaching, research, and citations of scholarly publications, industry income and international outlook.

“The truth of the matter is that the Times Higher Education is one of the elite global ranking bodies.

“It is a thing of joy that we have a respectable position in comparison to peer universities in Africa.

“This is a message to the Federal Government of Nigeria that we need funding to improve our research and infrastructure to enhance productivity.

“We congratulate all faculties, staff and students who have made this feat possible.

“The Federal Government should learn to use research output from the University of Ibadan to solve problems facing the country.

“We cannot have world class scholars in Nigeria and rely on those who have never conducted researches on our problems to come and solve our problems,” he said.