FUNAAB VC, Prof. Oluwafemi Olaiya Balogun
It has been officially revealed that the Presidential Visitation Panel that visited the University last June was so overwhelmed by the level of achievements noted in the University that it could not conceal its amazement of the “energy and zeal that drives and motivates” its Vice-Chancellor, Professor Oluwafemi Olaiya Balogun.
The Panel noted further that Professor Balogun was resilient in pushing the frontiers of development of the institution.
To this effect, the Panel through the official White Paper recommended thus:
a. The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Oluwafemi O. Balogun should be given a special commendation for a very good job done in carrying the university to a new level.
b. The Panel also recommends that Professor Balogun should be given National honours to serve as an example and a motivational tool to his colleagues and Peers in academia; and
c. We therefore recommend that other VCs should be encouraged to visit highflying universities like UNAAB where remarkable strides are being made.
The Panel reported that it noted through its interactions with community members that the assumption of Professor Balogun in the University was responsible for the “absolute peace and tranquillity, safety, good behaviour, continuous infrastructural development and expansion, and cordial atmosphere”.
The Panel said prior to the assumption of Professor Balogun, the University had its own share of:
(i) Students’ cultism;
(ii) Lateness to work by staff and students, mostly arriving to Offices and Lectures, after mid-day;
(iii) Very low personal and property security;
(iv) Staff polarity affiliations;
(v) Very difficult transportation; and
(vi) Encroachment on the vast University land by villagers, cattle-rearers, farmers, and poachers.
The Panel further informed that it was able to gather through interviews and interactions with staff and students, and “going through all relevant documents, found out that most of these problems have been solved”.
For instance, the Panel submitted that “community relationship with neighbouring settlements around the University have improved”, while the Vice-Chancellor was able to check “the incidence of encroachment, settlements and cattle rearing by independent cattle-rearers”.
In the same vein, the Panel also commended the former Vice-Chancellor, Professor Israel Adu, noting that during his tenure, “The University also had some remarkable achievements…It won the 1st and 2nd editions of a Research and Trade Fair organized by NUC; the University was adjudged the best overall University and the best Federal University, on both editions”.
It stressed: “The Panel noted that within the period, the University was able to cushion the effect of inadequate funding through Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR) which rose from N49.5 million in 2001/2002 to N220 million in 2005/2006.
We also observed that in keeping pace with the development trend set by the Founding Fathers; the Vice-Chancellor, within the period initiated thirty-seven new projects, and completed thirty-two, before leaving five at various stages of completion”.