Achievers University matriculates third set, seeks government’s support

The Pro-chancellor and Chairman of Council, Mr. Bode Ayorinde, and Vice Chancellor, Professor Adebayo Odebiyi, have implored governments  to partner  with the university in its efforts to produce quality future leaders for the country.  They both made the request at the third matriculation ceremony of the university held at the idasen-Ute Permanent site of the University recently.

Ayorinde, in his speech, said both the state and Owo local governments, and Achievers University should be partners in progress because “we are producing leaders for the country”. He particularly called on the state government, “as the father of all”, to be interested in the university because of its commitment to producing graduates with character and integrity, leadership qualities which the society is in dire need of.  He implored the state and local government to tar the Idasen-Ute Road which passes the permanent site of the university and all the link roads to the mini campus of the institution. 

He highlighted the many trail-blazing achievements recorded by the University since it commenced academic operations on April 2, 2008 such as the installation of electronic boards in all its lecture halls, memorandum of understanding, MoU, with the British Council (BC) which allows staff and students access to an array of e-library resources, the partnership with the Distance Learning Centre, University of Ibadan which makes Achievers University a learning hub and the MoU with the Federal Medical Centre, Owo to produce sound Medical Laboratory Scientists for the nation.   

Although Professor Odebiyi lauded the state governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, “for his recognition of our existence”, he said the university, as the first private university in the state, deserved more attention from the state government.  He pooh-poohed the argument that private universities, as profit-making institutions, do not deserve any support from government. He said, “Are private universities any more profit-making than the banks on which Nigerian government has spent billions of taxpayers’ money to bail out of the rot they put themselves?” He added that considering the impact private universities have on the socio-economic development of the society, they deserved support from government.

Comparing the contributions of both the banking sectors and the private universities, the Vice Chancellor said, “Both sectors are employers of labour; the universities far more manpower in quality and diversity than the banking sector; and the universities influence micro-economic sector in their domain faster than the banking sector.” Still justifying the need for Dr. Mimiko’s  government to make “the sun of your administration shine on our campus”, Professor Odebiyi said, as law-abiding people of the state, and taxpayers, the university deserves “some dividend of good governance” of his administration.