A former Pro-Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Dr Yemi Ogunbiyi, has called for an alternative education funding system to prevent the extinction of some universities in the future.
Ogunbiyi stated this in Ibadan on Saturday at the 50th Post Graduation Anniversary of the 1971/1975 Set, Ibadan Boys’ High School Old Boys Association.
He stated that the architectural structure and foundation of education in Nigeria had been faulty right from the colonial era.
However, he identified the lack of planning in the education sector with regard to the population explosion as a factor that heightened the current challenges in the higher education sub-sector.
Ogunbiyi called for innovation through creative ideas, proper funding for tertiary education, infrastructural facilities and technology to prevent a bleak future for the country.
He advised the government to consider the current challenges as symptoms of a larger pending crisis and resolve to fund the system, as some universities might become history in the next 25 years.
“The situation is that bad,” Ogunbiyi said.
Sen. Yunus Akintunde (APC-Oyo Central) acknowledged the role of the alumni association in repositioning their alma mater.
He charged the set to re-engage with the school, not let go of the bond formed, strengthen their network and support current students with scholarships and grants to ensure the school thrives.
The Chairman of the 1971/1975 Set, Mr Gbadebo Adegoke, said the celebration was to share memories and friendship that had endured the past five decades.
According to him, the set has been the first to pioneer many projects in the school, executing 14 projects to date.
Adegoke said, “Some of the projects include an 11-room toilet building for students in 2015 and a sick bay with a qualified nurse as the set’s contribution to the school’s 80th anniversary.
“Also, 35 units of desks and benches were donated to make the classrooms more conducive for final year students who were to write their SSCE exam that year.
“Others include an intervention to reduce the effects of COVID-19 when it was biting hard in 2020, the provision of sportswear and equipment, upgrading and equipping the principal’s office and refreshers’ training for the academic staff, among others.”
Meanwhile, the occasion’s chairman and the Kuliya Ngeri 1 of Ilorin Emirate, Prof. Yusuf Ali, congratulated the set and appreciated the legacy of the founding father, Chief T. L. Oyesina.
Ali, represented by Prof. Rasheed Aderinoye, Department of Adult Education, University of Ibadan, called on the likes of late Oyesina to address the current problems in the education sector.
The event featured the inauguration of an anniversary project, which is the renovation and equipping of the Olufemi Awobote 1975 Multipurpose Room.
Books and awards were also presented.
