Two dons from the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) and Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) have challenged Nigerian universities to re-appraise themselves with a view to being more relevant to the yearnings of the people and the country, especially in the light of the current socio-economic challenges the country is contending with.

The dons, Vice Chancellor FUTA, Prof Adenike Temidayo Oladiji, and Vice Chancellor FUOYE, Prof Abayomi Sunday Fasina, gave the admonition at a lecture to mark FUOYE Founder’s Day, held at the OyeEkiti main campus. They reminded the ivory towers that from history when countries found themselves at cross-road, a point in which Nigeria is today, universities often took up the gaunlet by making themselves more relevant in rising to the occasion.

While identifying with the agitation for restructuring as panacea to the challenges facing the country, the FUTA Vice Chancellor argued that while waiting for that to be done , Nigerians should precede the exercise with the restructuring of their minds on how to get things right first from the immediate environment before getting to the larger environment.

She was emphatic that no foreign country or foreign experts could take the country out of the current socio-economic quagmire other than Nigerians, with the universities taking the lead.

She admitted that one of such steps to right these wrongs was the lecture put together by FUOYE and many others by sister universities which she expressed conviction would get to government because of the advantage of appointing the country’s Minister of Education, Prof. TahirMamman from among them.

The FUOYE Vice Chancellor while responding to Oladiji’s clarion call, disclosed that his administration was proactive to realise this much earlier as he had long made it the goal of his administration to be relevant and affect its immediate environment aside impacting visibly on the country as whole.

He cited the various arms of the institution, like the School of Part-time, the School of Pre-degree, the College of Medicine and many others that were sited in different communities across the state.