At Unilorin, Blueprint CEO challenges varsities to develop ‘immunity’ against incessant strikes


Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Blueprint Newspaper Limited, Alhaji Mohmmed Idris, Tuesday tasked authorities of Nigerian Universities to develop immunity against the scourge of incessant strikes which he said was killing the nation’ s university system.

This is just as the pro-chancellor and chairman of council, University of Lagos Dr. Wale Babalakin, (SAN) challenged Nigerian universities to work towards attaining the lists of 100 top universities in the world within the next five years.

The duo spoke at the third university of Ilorin annual registry lecture series titled ‘‘Public Service Rules and University Administration: Re-Engineering for Excellence’’. 

The lecture was delivered by the Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita and it coincided with the appointment of Dr. Fola Olowolene as the Registrar of the university.

Represented by the managing editor, Blueprint Newspaper, Mr. Clement Oluwole, Idris who was the special guest of honour at the event, however praised the University of Ilorin for ‘‘being a leading light in the nation’s educational firmament’’ even as he announced the donation of N1millon to support its annual lecture series .

‘‘I referred to the university of Ilorin as the leading light because of the institution’s immunity to the scourge of strikes that has been afflicting our academic environment since the 80s .It is the inability of the plague to penetrate the fortress of this institution that has made it a preferred destination for admission seekers from different parts of the country.

‘‘In the light of this, I urge the university management to hold on to the immune booster at its disposal’’, he said         

He also decried the proliferation of private universities in the country without corresponding results in quality of graduates being churned out yearly noting that ‘‘those who set up universities as business enterprises are doing more harm than good to the very important sub-sector’’.

In his address, Babalakin  (SAN) ,who was the chairman of the occasion, called for review of laws guiding Nigerian universities every 10 years for them to meet up with contemporary challenges.

The guest speaker, represented by the director, Organisational Design and Strategy, Mr Ben Omugo, decried what she called ‘‘non and weak enforcement of laws’’ as major problem facing public sectors including universities.

She charged university administrators to ‘‘open their doors for reform’’ in line with the federal government policies.

The HOS emphasised that ‘‘laws need to be enforced and where they are no longer fit to stand the test of times ,they need to be reviewed.’’    

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