NUC Grants Recognition To Technical University, Ibadan

The National Universities Commission (NUC) has formally presented a letter of recognition to the Technical University, Ibadan. Presenting the letter to Abiola Ajimobi, governor of Oyo State, Executive Secretary of NUC, Prof. Julius Okojie, charged the governor to “give all it takes to the new institution to survive.”

Okojie expressed dissatisfaction with the manner with which some state universities were being politicized, which always led to their eventual collapse.

“The most difficult institutions to run are state-owned institutions,” he noted.

He attributed the problem to change in leadership and politics of ethnicity, adding, “we cannot play politics with university education”.

Okojie, who also said universities of technology in Nigeria had lost focus, noted that the system was failing because there were no industries to “translate theory into practice.” He said universities have big roles to play in ensuring the advancement of technology in the country, especially through constant researches and commitment to quality education.

According to Ajimobi, the university was established to fill the gap in courses that were missing in other universities. “What makes this university unique is that we are focusing on courses that are not readily available in other technical universities in Nigeria, such as mechatronics, aircraft technology, robotics, cyber space security, among others.

“What we are doing is marrying classroom with industries through qualitative curriculum, which will be engineering and technology based,” he explained. He added that three local firms had indicated interest to cite their industries on campus, which would help in achieving the goals of the university.

“The university is being modeled after other technical universities in Asia and Europe, and we hope to encourage entrepreneurship and engineering studies.”

Ajimobi said the establishment of the university would not affect the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, jointly owned by Oyo and Osun State. The institution, situated at the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, he said, would take-off in September 2013.