By Josephine Oguntoyinbo
The Ondo State House of Assembly has commended the management of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA) for its expansion of programmes and steadfastness in maintaining academic standards.
The House Committee on Tertiary Institutions gave this commendation during an oversight visit to the university. However, they urged the management to establish more faculties, particularly in engineering, to make it a fully-fledged conventional university.
The Committee, led by the lawmaker from Ese-Odo Constituency, Oluwatoyin Allen, who represented the Chairman, Chris Aiyebusiwa, affirmed that the institution has made significant improvements since their last oversight visit less than a year ago.
The Committee assured that education would be prioritised in the next budget and added that they would monitor its implementation to ensure effectiveness.
Members also promised legislative backing to address the challenges faced by the university to foster its overall development.
During an inspection of facilities at the new faculties, the committee praised the Vice-Chancellor (VC) and his team for their outstanding work.
“The major challenge is funding. Their budget falls short of expectations, and as a committee, we promised to write a report and forward it to the Governor so that action can be taken. The capital projects that have been abandoned for years will also be addressed, including the urgent need to renovate the Senate building,” remarked Allen.
Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Olugbenga Ige, while highlighting the institution’s activities, achievements, and challenges, informed the Committee that two new faculties, comprising nine new programmes, have been approved by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and will begin admitting students this year.
The new programmes include Nursing Science, Public Health, and Medical Laboratory Science in the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences; Cyber Security, Data Science, Software Engineering, Information and Communication Technology, and Information Systems in the Faculty of Computing; and Food Science and Technology in the Faculty of Agriculture.
Professor Ige also noted that the university is working on establishing two additional faculties for Engineering and Medical Sciences.
He added that the 2024/25 academic year will commence next month, having successfully concluded the 2023/24 session, with the admission process for the next session nearing completion.
The Vice-Chancellor highlighted that the institution is the only state university participating in the ongoing Nigerian Universities Games Association (NUGA) in Benin, Edo State, and continues to maintain its reputation as the best state university in Nigeria.
He appealed to the Committee for assistance in accessing capital votes for projects, which have been inaccessible for over five years, and called for an increase in subventions to meet staff salary obligations, which the university struggles to cover, sourcing over ₦200 million monthly.
He also mentioned that the institution’s Senate building, once the best in Nigeria, is deteriorating and requires urgent renovation. Additionally, he noted that the university is no longer on the TETFUND list, with the next round of intervention allocated to another institution, despite Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa’s efforts to reverse this.