Vice Chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, Professor Michael Faborode, has stated that the university is foremost among its peers.
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He said this during a courtesy visit to the corporate headquarters of the African Newspapers of Nigeria (ANN) Plc, publishers of Tribune titles in Ibadan on Thursday.
“We want our university to remain the leading university in Nigeria and one of the best in the world. The assessment that we are the best in Nigeria could not have been manipulated as it was done by an international body,” he said.
The vice chancellor said the university, under his leadership, would consolidate on the goodwill it had built over the years, emphasising that the university was being repositioned to meet the challenges of the new millennium.
According to him: “We have the potential to do this and we are trying to meet up with the challenges of the new millennium.” Emphasising the need for more government commitment to education, the professor called on the Federal Government to “take education as a major challenge,”saying the numerous problems associated with the university system in the country were a reflection of the decay in the Nigerian society as a whole.
While advocating improved relations between the institution and ANN Plc., he said such a partnership would be mutually beneficial as both establishments had their ancestry in the legend, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
He added that the university would soon set up a Mass Communication Department to produce quality media professionals, stressing that such a department would require partnership with media organisations.
Responding on behalf of ANN Plc, Mr. Abiodun Raufu, Editor, Nigerian Tribune, assured the vice chancellor of balanced reporting, emphasising that the newspaper had been transformed to take its rightful place among other media organisations.
The Vice Chancellor was accompanied by senior professors and administrators from the university, among whom where Professor Kayode Alao, Dean, Faculty of Education; Professor Kehinde Yusuf, Dean, Faculty of Arts; Mrs Abimbola Jibowo, Director, Corporate Services and Mrs Ronke Ajibola, Director, Advance Office.
He was received by senior editors and top management staff of ANN, including Mr. Abiodun Raufu, Editor, Nigerian Tribune; Mr. Sunday Olajide, Editor, Saturday Tribune; Mr. Edward Dickson, Editor, Sunday Tribune; Reverend Sam Adesua, Manager, Special Duties, among others.