We’re building BOUESTI to become Nigeria’s leading university — VC

The Vice-Chancellor of Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology, Ikere-Ekiti (BOUESTI), Professor Olufemi Victor Adeoluwa, has revealed that the management was doing everything possible to make the institution a leading light in the country.

He noted that the institution would justify the recent increment in subvention by the governor, Biodun Oyebanji by producing graduates that would provide solutions to myriad of challenges confronting the society.

Professor Adeoluwa spoke in Ikere-Ekiti during a three-day retreat for members of staff , with the theme: “The Imperatives of Governance in a Budding University.”

At the retreat, various papers were delivered by resource persons and renowned educationists ranging from work ethics to discipline and relationship with students and other stakeholders in line with the vision of the university.

According to him, the recent increase in subvention from N175.8 million to N275.8 million will be effectively harnessed to elevate the status of the institution among the comity of universities in the country. 

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He highlighted that one of the key visions of the institution is investing in digital skills to cushion the effects of unemployment adding that plans are underway to set up a Technology Hub in the university.

The VC said, “We are using this opportunity to thank the Executive Governor of Ekiti State, Biodun Oyebanji for attending to our wage bill and making sure that we have some little respite to be able to do some other things that we plan to do.

“There are a lot of visions we have for the university, but all the time when you don’t have the money to implement that, it becomes difficult. For example, I’ve engaged a particular private firm to train 100 of my students on various digital skills that can enable them to be able to get employment for themselves even with regards to their disciplines and interact with the whole world. 

“The training is on now and the university has to pay for each of those students. We desire to pick the best students on campus, if I have more money I will do more and as matter of fact we’re going to get a Tech Hub on campus that has 24 hours electricity and 24 hours free internet, where students can take their laptop, their phones, tablets into and be able to do whatever they can with their digital skills in the place. 

“We are trying to bring some ICT clubs on campus, Google scholars on campus in order to make sure that our university has some uniqueness in that regard. So we need more funds.”

Speaking further, the VC stated that the retreat is aimed at empowering the university staff for efficient service delivery under the university system as against the former college of education system.

“Our university is a peculiar one, very peculiar from inception, knowing full well we have moved in such that we really believed that there is nothing that is impossible.

“We have been able to put into our delivery system the understanding that entrepreneurship is important and vocational studies are important. We try to let students understand that for whatever course they go through, they have certain elements of that particular course that can make money for themselves. 

“So, our delivery system is different. We are also a university that has been upgraded from a college of education and good numbers of our staff were the staff of that same college of education that’s now the front. It is important for us to bring them together, to let them know that there are things they need to unlearn, relearn so that they can fit in properly into the university system.

“The name of the university which is a peculiar university on its own. We have our goals, we have things we want to do. We have what we want our students to become and we must set the tone, the climate, the goals for the year and this is what we will have to do every year in order to make sure that we are going together as a team. 

“This is the way we are going to work this year and so when we set the parameters and we set the pace here this week, we’ll go back to campus and bring the others that are not here now, who are all subordinate, bring them together and let them know our focus. And from there, we will begin to monitor our achievements if we’re achieving them on time, and monitor optimization as far as our programs are concerned,” he said.