The Vice-Chancellor of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Prof. Ayodeji Agboola, has called for the revival of indigenous culture in the nation’s universities to prevent it from going into extinction.

Speaking ahead of the institution’s 35th convocation ceremony, Prof. Agboola said cultural values have been eroded because of modernisation and innovations.

The professor of cancer pathology stated that the federal government should, as a matter of urgency, support the establishment of religious houses in institutions to enable students to imbibe both cultural values and the tenets of religion.

He emphasised that the university also prioritises cultural values, traditional attire, and character development alongside academic excellence, while addressing challenges such as paucity of funds through partnerships and innovations.

The university don explained that the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has transformed the situation for students who, prior to the initiative, often withdrew in large numbers due to financial constraints.

“For now, I’ve not seen anybody apply for a leave of absence. Previously, we usually had between 3,000 and 4,000 students applying for leave of absence each year. But with the advent of NELFUND, at least as of today, I have not seen any student apply for leave of absence due to financial incapacity, and the window closes tomorrow. So NELFUND is actually doing well,” he said.

Prof. Agboola further added that for the 2024/2025 academic session, 147 graduands earned First Class degrees; a total of 2,051 were in the Second Class Upper Division; 2,927 in the Second Class Lower Division, with Ajayi David Bamidele of the Department of Civil Engineering emerging as the overall best graduating student with a CGPA of 4.89.

He said, “The total number of students that NELFUND has already paid for this session alone is 5,613. I also expect another 1,270 applications that have just been processed and sent to them. Once approved, the total figure will be 6,883 for this session. For now, I’ve not seen any student applying for leave of absence due to financial incapacity. So NELFUND is performing very well.”

Prof. Agboola maintained that the institution continues to climb global rankings, driven by academic excellence and impactful research, noting that the university has recorded many breakthroughs, including contributions to the development of tertiary education.