New Telegraph

UNILAG seeks support for projects, students, others

…as varsity ranked third on Forbes’ entrepreneurial skills in Africa

A call has gone to stakeholders and friends of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) to key into the Vice-Chancellor’s vision: “Picking a Project, Programme or Student” for the promotion of excellence.
This is as the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, who made the call, said that with such vision, the institution would contribute significantly, not only to nation building, but also to the world at large.
He made call on the sidelines of the inauguration of the newly renovated Human Resource Development Centre (HRDC) Building and Meeting Rooms donated to the University of Lagos Business School by the Chairman of Platform Capital, Dr. Akintoye Akindele.

Ogundipe said: “Part of the vision that God gave me when I applied for the position of the Vice-Chancellorship is: Pick a Project, Pick a Programme and Pick a Person.
“And, what we are doing here today is part of that pick a project, which Dr. Akintoye through the Platform Capital, is doing now with the renovation of this building. We also have a similar one currently going on in the Faculty of Law, being carried out by Alhaji Femi Okunu and many others.

“In the area of Pick a Programme, we are talking to the alumni and friends of the university to pick a department and support it by buying equipment and facilities in a bid to enhance teaching and learning in that department, especially now that we are talking about online teaching.

“Under the Pick a Person vision, you can pick an indigent student and train such student from first year to when he or she graduates. You can also pick a scholar in a department for sponsorship to international conference within or outside the country.
“We are indeed grateful to all our donors so far and expect more of such gesture to take our university to where we truly want it to be.”
Meanwhile, UNILAG has been ranked the third most productive in teaching entrepreneurial skills in Africa on Forbes Entrepreneurs’ List.
Reacting to the ranking, the university expressed commitment to its mandate to churning out creative thinkers from the institution.
In the Forbes report, entitled: “If You Want to Start a Tech-Company in Africa, Go to College,” UNILAG was adjudged as the powerhouse of Nigeria entrepreneurship drive.
On the list, the University of Cape Town and the Makerere led in the ranking, while the University of Nairobi, Kenya, and Stellenbosch University were placed fourth and fifth positions respectively.
The analytical report looked at the quality of education; where and what the entrepreneurs studied and the level of education they achieved. It was also submitted that having at least a Bachelor’s degree is important for a startup to survive in Africa.

The Vice-Chancellor, however, expressed gratitude to the Platform Capital for the gesture, saying it is the way to go, as it would continuously boost the culture of excellence of the university.
Apart from the renovation of the structures by Platform Capital, the firm, he said also provided Information Technology (IT) system, adding that this would go a long way in impacting positively on students in terms of entrepreneurship development.

Basking in the euphoria of the university’s progress, the Vice-Chancellor recalled that the recent ranking by Forbes, rated the UNILAG Entrepreneurship Centre as the best in Nigeria and the third best in Africa.

Giving an update on the institution’s position concerning academic activities in view of the lockdown following the Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic, Ogundipe said that it may be difficult for the management to bring all students back to campus now.
He noted: “This is because they are more vulnerable to COVID-19. So, we are going to do the online teaching and we want to assure them that we will put them into consideration at a particular stage.

“Management has met on that. At a particular point, we are going to put them into consideration in such a way that they will not need to buy data. They will only buy the data when the lectures are going on.

“And, when it is time for examination, the management is going to recommend to council for the university to pick part of the bills for data that the students are going to use for their examinations.
“Right now, I want to assure you that once we have a directive from our principal, we will migrate online. We are fully ready concerning what we are going to do in that regard.”

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