Yinka Kolawole
18 November 2008
Osogbo — Vice Chancellor of the Osun State University, Prof Sola Akinrinade has canvassed for more private universities in the country to allow for adequate human capacity building.
Fielding questions from journalists at a forum tagged, 'News Points', organised by the Osun State Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Osogbo, Akinrinade said all existing higher institutions in Nigeria were not enough to tackle the challenges of human development if the country really wants to move forward.
He frowned at the call by some people that the federal government should stop what they called proliferation of universities, saying private universities were never a threat to the existing ones, but rather, they would help to promote the socio-economic development of the country.
"We need more universities to develop human capacity. Therefore there should be an urgent step by the Federal Government and National Universities Commission (NUC) to establish more private universities in the country".
Akinrinade stressed that government at all levels needed to trained people by expanding the capacity of private institutions in the country. He therefore called on the NUC to make it mandatory for all private universities to have capacity to admit no fewer than 5,000 students before they can take off.
On the current agreements between UNIOSUN and five universities in the United States and the United Kingdom, including the Universities of Delaware, Albany State and Buckingham, the Vice Chancellor said the agreements focused on the specific areas of cooperation for each one. For example, his university is currently working on agreements on alternative energy and rural technology and is working with Albany State on students/staff exchange and research collaboration.
He said since inception, UNIOSUN had placed a great premium on research, technology and innovation to make life more meaningful for the people.
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