Founder, Christopher University, Mowe, Ogun State, Chief Christopher Ikechi Ezeh, has called on the Federal Government to revisit the issue of assisting private universities through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
Ezeh noted that the current challenges and escalating costs confronting tertiary institutions, particularly private-owned universities, call for urgent government intervention.
He pointed out that private universities absorb a sizeable percentage of candidates seeking admission into universities; thereby lifting the burden on oversubscribed public ones.
He said the only way to encourage private institutions is for the Federal Government to extend TETFund grants to them, and not restrict funding to public universities.
The vice chancellor, Prof. Olatunji Oyelana, said the university offers innovative education that ensures all-round development, which engenders creativity, promote skill acquisition from varieties of learning experiences, and build a total person, prepared for leadership and service.
Oyelana said the institution plans to interface local research and innovation with the development of need-driven educational programmes to produce highly skilled, globally and self-employable graduates, who may transform into entrepreneurs, and create their own enterprises and business opportunities.
“As a university, we would provide the much-needed institutional platform on which to build and develop local initiatives and alternative adaptable indigenous technologies that would be capable of galvanising Nigeria’s rapid agricultural, economic and infrastructural/industrial development,” he said.
Oyelana, who described the graduands as their pride, said they have been raised with values such as integrity, kindness, honesty, accountability, responsibility and hard work.
He charged them to unleash their academic attainments on the society and be agents of positive change.
The Pro-Chancellor, Prof Ike Ndolo, also appealed to both state and Federal Governments to review their policy on financial grants to private universities, saying the institutions are playing pivotal roles in training and development of critical manpower needs of the country and in advancing scientific research in important areas.
He urged wealthy individuals and corporate bodies to also consider endowment of professorial chairs in schools or faculties to attract academics in private universities.
Chairman, Board of Trustee, Chief Nwobi, said the graduates have internalised confidence and excellence and will exude same in their pursuits.
At the combined convocation ceremony, seven graduates bagged first class. The ceremony was the first, second and third convocation of the institution for a total of 90 combined graduands who resumed studies during the 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19 academic sessions.
