For almost one year, public universities in the country have not been active due to industrial actions embarked upon by the various staff unions over their conditions of service and lockdown directives following the coronavirus (COVID-19) that disrupted world affairs. As the staff unions are calling off strike and restrictions on academic activities are being lifted to encourage resumption, a review of the level of preparedness is worth looking at going by the example of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State.
The Vice-Chancellor, Felix Kolawole Salako, a Professor of Soil Physics, said the University had to provide necessary facilities for virtual teaching and learning and adhered to the required COVID-19 protocols to ensure the safety of members of staff and students. The Vice-Chancellor noted that FUNAAB was set for academic activities as approved by the University Senate, adding that it had been working tirelessly to ensure that necessary facilities and equipment, which would enhance quality teaching through online and physical classes. He stated further that necessary measures were on ground to ensure that students are kept safe, as “One of the efforts of the University is to teach online by making sure that lectures are handled in an advanced way. Currently, we have more than N300 million naira worth of equipment, which can only be found in standard universities”.
The Vice-Chancellor added that the University has had various experiences with online teaching, stating that FUNAAB Staff School recently adopted online classes for the teaching of pupils during the lockdown while the FUNAAB Radio was equally engaged to provide on-air classroom lessons for pupils. In furthering the University’s preparedness for resumption, the Vice-Chancellor noted that FUNAAB had started organising Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) solutions for the training of academic staff to get them acquainted with how to properly handle online classes. Prof. Salako gave the imperative of virtual learning using a personal experience when he recently co-supervised a foreign postgraduate student from Nigeria while calling for the provision of adequate infrastructural facilities such as electricity for the universities.
On the safety of students, Prof. Salako added that students had been instructed to ensure that they comform to the University’s non-pharmaceutical instructions such as regular hand washing, wearing of face masks and the use of FUNAAB-made sanitisers, among others, stressing that the institution would ensure that all members of staff and students are kept safe and in addition, various offices and halls had been well equipped. The Vice-Chancellor stated that prior to now, the University Management had severally carried out campus-wide fumigation of staff offices, lecture halls and students’ hostels and rehabilitated done ahead of resumption. Prof. Salako informed that the University Registrar had on several occasions, issued directives on the need to adhere strictly to the non-pharmaceutical guidelines for the prevention of COVID-19.
To show the readiness of the University for resumption, the Vice-Chancellor took some pressmen on facility tour round the campus, saying that the University had acquired Internet-ready smart television sets with browsers, which are compatible with android devices. Some of the inspected facilities included the newly-constructed Academic Building, comprising eight rooms with 50-seater seminar rooms, four 100-seater classroom and two 200-seater classroom that can be used for virtual training and multimedia with professorial offices for lecturers. Others were the newly-constructed laboratories in the College of Plant Science and Crop Production (COLPLANT) Phase II, which houses a hall that was donated by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for lectures and farm practicals, four 100-seater capacity classes, two big laboratories and two smaller ones for research students and the college library, among others.
Facilities inspected also include the newly-constructed Agricultural Laboratory Building, which accommodates several new laboratories and classrooms; newly-constructed hostels; renovated Students’ Union Centre and the new Digital Library. The Director, Health Services, Dr. Abiodun Amusan revealed that the University Health Services would do all things possible to enforce COVID-19 rules in collaboration with the Environmental Unit of the University. Dr. Amusan said that ever since the emergence of the novel virus, universities running their academic activities had not reported any fatality. The President, FUNAAB Students’ Union (FUNAABSU), Comrade Michael Oloyede, while appreciating the Vice-Chancellor for his pro-activeness, stated that the University Management had tried in making sure that FUNAAB stands out as the best institution with the massive rehabilitation taking place on campus, stating that students were happy with what they had seen so far.
The student leader admonished all to work collectively towards achieving the University’s vision and goals, stating that an honest assessment of the students on the level of preparedness indicated that FUNAAB was ready to commence academic activities. Beyond varsities physical resumption, one major task ahead of the universities is to prove to society that they are truly ivory towers and centres of academic excellence by finding home-grown solutions to ending the pandemic. They should be reminded that the people are eagerly waiting for local vaccines, drugs and research outputs that would not only tackle COVID-19, but other diseases and indeed, the many problems facing our nation.
