By Wole Balogun
SA Media to VC
The upwardly mobile Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) has appealed to progressively minded Nigerians, comprising captains of industry, successful professionals, Alumni members, friends, associates, staff members and also students, to endow the University in her bid towards achieving global reckoning as a 21st century University.
A Professor of Microbiology and Director of FUOYE Advancement Centre, who is also the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Endowment of the University ceremonies committee, Prof. Olubukola Monisola Oyawoye, made the passionate appeal at the weekend in a chat with the University media team.
The endowment is featuring as part of the weeklong 8th Convocation ceremony scheduled to hold from February 5 to 11, 2024 on the University premises.
Prof. Oyawoye, who has served as Osun State Commissioner for Environment and equally served humanity in several capacities such as consultant on Nutrition to UNICEF in D zone in Nigeria, President of Nigerian Association of University Women amongst others, said that FUOYE needs endowment from all and sundry who are progressively minded like the incumbent Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Abayomi Sunday Fasina, so that the University could continue to provide sound and qualitative academic/social services to her over fifty thousand students and other stakeholders in the areas of teaching, research and community services .
The VC has put in a great effort in developing the university since he assumed office close to three years ago. He has been building infrastructures, he has 34 classrooms built from IGR already and he is still building many more. He is commissioning many projects during the forthcoming ceremony. He is taking care of the students’ and staff’s welfare and all that, these are just very little percentage of what he needs to put this university on a global map. “
Her words: “ FUOYE is being endowed now because in the 21 century, the reality is that the government and the institutions cannot do it all. The Federal Government caters for one hundred and forty six (146 ) Federal universities which are founded by Federal Government . If you don’t involve the private sector on meaningful development of the university, it will be difficult .
“The Federal Government is to take care of not just many universities but also polytechnics, colleges of education, monotechnics, secondary and primary schools. They equally take care of the, environment, personel salaries, security and many other welfare duties.
“A good visioner like our Vice Chancellor knows that without the help of the community, we may not achieve a lot of things. We need the immediate and extended communities’ imput . Our immediate community is Ekiti State, extended community is the South-West Nigeria while the larger community is the entire Nigeria and even the International community.
“Without help from these quarters, you cannot be a first class university. Endowment is when we call the well-to-do and well meaning individuals and everybody to come and assist in developing the University. Even if it is a single Biro that you can give the University, it will be useful for someone.
“Endowment is when you bring all of the like minds together to come and see how they can better educational matters in that University and this goes from learning materials to blocks of classrooms, to faculty buildings, laboratories and workshops and other academic needs
“It is expensive to run a University and that is why those who attend private universities are paying heavily. This is why most big individuals who are managing private universities are investing so much into it.
“Most private universities are well endowed but this is not so with public universities like FUOYE because the Federal Government cannot handle it all alone. So, as a public university, that caters for most of the teeming youth, if you want to do well and augment what the government can do, and make national and global impact as we are trying to do, you must endow.
“This is why we are inviting many well meaning Nigerians and other people who have hearts of gold and who are interested, good people whom God has blessed , people who believe in education and also want to invest in the future and life of the youths of this country to come and endow FUOYE on February 9, 2024. The programme is part of our forthcoming 8th Convocation ceremony.
“Truth is that our education system grooms and trains the youths of this country. If we have badly developed university system, we cannot have graduates imbibed with sound character and knowledge.