Vice Chancellor of KolaDaisi University Ibadan, Prof. Adeniyi Olatunbosun, SAN, in this interview with Team Lead of Platforms Africa, Adeola Yusuf, opens up on all you need to know about the world standard University and the unique features that stand the private institution out from others before it. Excerpts;
KolaDaisi University came at a time the number of private universities in Nigeria was on the rise. What informed the establishment of the university?
KolaDaisi University was established as a result of the vision of our Founder; Chief Kola Daisi, (CON) Bashorun of Ibadan Land who is an economist of repute, a businessman of international status and also a legal practitioner who has been involved in moulding lives especially in the banking sector for so many years. Chief Kola Daisi has so much interest in youth development. He also established in 1993, Kola Daisi Foundation which was and is still meant to meet the needs of the young ones in the area of education, health and entrepreneurship. Over the years, he has contributed substantially to many reputable institutions like the University of Ibadan, donating a Clinic Complex for them at Alaadorin, in Adeoyo area which the University Teaching Hospital has been utilizing over the years.
He has also contributed to the growth of his Alma Mata: CAC Primary School, Olugbode Ibadan, where he started his educational career with blocks of building for the school, a library and other facilities to enhance teaching and learning at his former school. So, giving his interest in education of the future generation, he decided to start a university in 2013, then he acquired 200 hectares of land, where we are now; through the support of the Oyo State Government, he commenced building project, eventually, in 2016,
we are trying to establish ourself as a University that is also strong in Mass Communication, Information and Media Studies.
KolaDaisi University was given a temporary license to start operating as a private university. It was licensed as the 62nd private university in Nigeria. By 2020, we had gotten our permanent certificate as a private university that is licensed by the NUC. Invariably, that is the motive behind the establishment. It has had a steady growth, starting with 32 students, today on its 7th admission process, we have about 850 students. We believe that by the next academic session, we would have 1,000 student enrolment. It has been a stable growth; we are optimistic that this will be a legacy that Chief Kola Daisi is going to leave behind. It is noteworthy to mention that recently, Chief Kola Daisi gave the University a One Billion Naira Endowment for the growth and sustenance of the University.
Our University is well-managed by competent administrators in the various fields which we run. At the higher positions, we have experienced individuals: we have a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ife; as it was then called, Prof. Adeniyi Osuntogun (OFR) as the Chairman Board of Trustees, before him, was Late Prof. Akinkugbe. We now have a new Pro Chancellor/ Chairman of Council, he is Mr Remi Babalola; a well-known Chartered Accountant and a former Minister of State for Finance.
We have eminent university administrators who have retired and in public service. We have Prof. Oladapo Afolabi; a former Head of Service as a member of Council, we have Emeritus Prof. Femi Bamiro; who is a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, we have Chief (Mrs) Mojisola Ladipo who is also a former registrar of the University of Ibadan and had been a Registrar at one point or the other in some other universities. Also, Dr. Kolade Mosuro, an educationist, a renowned book-seller, proprietor, we used to have Dr. Marinho in the Council, we also have a Justice of a High Court in Lagos; Dr. Bukunola Adebiyi, amongst other eminent personalities in the University Council.
KolaDaisi University is apparently fortified with men and women of international repute that can serve as a repository of knowledge and can serve as experts in the various endeavours of the University which will tremendously aid its growth and advancement. The University is well positioned towards achieving the best. There is no doubt that KolaDaisi University will within the shortest possible time, become a national institution, equally, an institution of international repute.
What, in your opinion, are the hallmarks of a well-run university?
A well-run university is expected to ensure compliance with international standards and best practices. Every university is based on the cardinal concept of universality. A university is a global institution; wherever it is situated, it must conform to the tenets, norms and values expected of a university with a global standard. Typically, a university must be able to have autonomy, must be able to be independent, and must be able to have global competitiveness in terms of standard, in terms of curriculum, even in terms of structure, in terms of admission policy as well as the requirements that are expected of them. Also, funding is another critical aspect of it: a university must be well funded by whoever is the owner or the government in position and ensure that they are able to attract funds outside statutory funds given to them by the power that be.
So expectedly, a university is run on the basis of ensuring that all the components of public administration, good governance and other policies are put in place to ensure that the best of the university is attained because a university operates under a system whereby its products are supposed to be of global relevance and the peculiarity or the conditions of such a university may not actually be a form of set back or should not be a justification for non-performance. The university must ensure that it conforms with the standards that are set by the various regulatory agencies and ensure that staff and students meet up with the standards so that they can compete favourably with other institutions of the same status worldwide.
How does KolaDaisi University fit into these (your descriptions of the hallmarks of a well-run university)?
KolaDaisi University is a world standard University and we strive as much as possible to attain academic excellence and robust curricula. We equally see to it that highly skilled lecturers are recruited in ensuring that we get the best from our products. We make selections based on merit during our admission process. We also ensure that we comply with the guideline put in place by the regulatory arm of Government; the NUC.
We have, over the years exposed our students to international best practices with the quality of our teaching and the quality of staff that we have and so we are not reneging on the standard, we believe that as a University that is striving to ensure that we have international and global presence, we will always ensure that our students are tutored and nurtured in a way that will actually bring the best out of them when they get out of the University, so KolaDaisi is in that area; making sure that we measure up to all the ideals of a world-class university so that our students; who eventually become our ambassadors; would be able to measure up to the standard(s) required of them so that they will be employable when they go out into the labour market.
Why should a parent who wants the best for his child(ren) choose Kola Daisi University? How unique is it from others before it?
Our University is a growing university, we are making impact in the various aspects of university association, university activities as well as in our various academic programmes. Like I told you, we have a reasonable growth in the number of students in the University, we have also had various programmes, had partnerships with some universities like the University of Ohio in America, we also have the University of Indiana in the field of Mass Communication, we have also established partnerships with a University in Malaysia in the field of Economics and other related fields.
We also have relationships with some other certification bodies like the New Horizon which is into ICT and Computer Studies in various disciplines as applicable to the various programmes of the University, all our students enrol in that programme and at the end of the day apart from the certificates from our University, they get specialized certificates to show some area of soft skills that are applicable to their various programmes. We also have an affiliation with ICAN, our students run professional examinations. We have the approval of the Council of Legal Education for our law students and from time to time they regulate what we do at the University. We have an affiliation with Oracle in the field of Computer Studies, Information and Media Sciences.
Recently, we established a working relationship and partnership with the Institute of Chartered Arbitrators, UK, we also have a relationship with the International Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria, we have established other partnerships with CIMA, which is another affiliate of Accounting System in the UK. Our students are exposed to competitions, we have had a series of competitions with universities, including Federal, State and private institutions within the South-West and outside the South-West.
we have established other partnerships with CIMA which is another affiliate of Accounting System in the UK
What is your rating by the NUC in terms of Sports and Education, and in terms of course accreditation? How many courses are available at the university?
As I earlier said, our University is licensed. We have 24 programmes and all our programmes are fully accredited by the Nigerian University Commission (NUC). We are also planning to introduce another 6 programmes: Nursing programme and allied courses that is; Medical Laboratory Science, Public Health, Human Anatomy and Human Physiology, we believe that we have done what is required of us and we are awaiting resource verification for that. So, all our programmes are fully accredited and we have competent staff that will be teaching our students.
Our University was licensed as the 62nd private university in Nigeria, presently out of about 200 universities that we now, I mean 202 or 203 now because two or three have just been added. As of 2021 based on the NUC ranking, we are number 57 out of about 200 universities comprising Federal universities, State universities, and private universities combined so in that regard, we are striving towards even improving on that so as to enhance our rating in terms of ranking in the Nigerian University System. Day by day we subject our programmes to proper evaluation and we acquire from time-to-time state of the art equipment and ensure that our laboratories are well-equipped, our Library holdings improved significantly. Just about one and a half year ago the United State Consulate office in Lagos donated books worth $20,000 to us at the University and these are for various programmes that we run. We also have access to E-Library holdings.
Apart from the educational aspect, how do you build the total child (student) before releasing them into the society? In terms of security, health care delivery, and sporting activities, how does the KolaDaisi University fare?
We engage our students; we offer them opportunities in sporting activities at the University. They have indoor games in their various hostels We have outdoor games like Football, Basketball, Lawn tennis and other games that may be of interest to all categories of students that we have. We avail them opportunities for competition outside the University with some other universities within our territorial scope, to give them the best and further prepare them for other forms of engagements that may be of their vocation or eventually their career in the future.
So, we ensure that we have Sports Directors and Coaches in various aspects that we can get for them so that they will equip them, train them and build them up towards becoming professionals in their various aspects of preference geared towards what will be of a common good and common interest to our students. We believe that sporting activities have become global phenomena, both the female gender and the male gender are actually interested in sports, which is why we give the enabling environment for them to actualize their dreams to be able to have self-discovery of their talents and potentials so that even when they graduate from the University, they will do more at meeting the realities of their dreams.
So, that is another area on which we focus, and we always give them opportunities to also engage in competitions outside our Campus.
Where do you see or hope to position the school in the next five years? What is your vision and mission as a university, and what is your projection in the next five years?
KolaDaisi University as I said, is a young and upcoming University. We have the potentials, we have the capacities, we also have the prospects of becoming a renowned University in Nigeria. We are trying as much as possible to build our human resource capacity by ensuring that we recruit the finest lecturers in the various disciplines, we as well give them support whenever they go out and encourage them to be more feasible in research and development so that in ranking KolaDaisi would in a very short time, mark a remarkable form of recognition in the Committee of Universities.
So, as much as possible, we are trying to build up some programmes which we want to actually make the University to be known for. For instance, in Law, we are striving to have a strong top-notch Faculty of Law to train our Law Students tremendously well so that when they get to the Nigerian Law School, they will be able to excel and be able to compete favourably with their colleagues so that they can become well-trained Law graduates and lawyers eventually. In the same way, we are striving to have a mark; a very significant one in Computing Sciences, Information Technology, Cyber Security to Engineer.
Most of our youths nowadays, are so much enthusiastic about Computing Science so we also are putting our best because that is actually the future of human endeavours in the time to come. A lot of them are enthusiastic about that, we are trying to establish ourself as a University that is also strong in Mass Communication, Information and Media Studies.
We endeavour as much as possible to make our students well-groomed because another area of professionalism in this era of social media and press cycle expansion the market is there for those who are able to distinguish themselves in the act of broadcasting, newscasting as well as other forms of media skills. So, we believe that this will be an added advantage for those who will want to come to our University. Ardently, we are open to advancement in our various Disciplines, we are doing our best to see that we are known in our Applied Sciences, especially in Nursing programmes as well as Microbiology. Medical Laboratory Science as well as Public Health.
We believe these are the courses that young ones are so passionate about because these courses put them in vantage positions when it comes to employability, so in this regard, KolaDaisi has the potential, we are in Ibadan which is relatively a contiguous city in the South West. Ibadan is also a gateway to the Northern part of Nigeria, through Ilorin in Kwara State, up to the North Central, to the North West, so accessibility to our University is very direct and we believe that this will also increase our projection for student enrolment in the next 5 years. So, I see KolaDaisi University in the next 5 years, having a totality of not less than 2, 500 thousand students and I believe with this, we would be in a very good stead to entrench our efficiency; entrench our prominence and entrench our relevance as a major contributor to university education in Nigeria, providing access to the teeming Nigerians who are yearning for university education and I believe that that will be a good opportunity for us to have a remarkable growth as well as a significant contribution to the development of the university system in Nigeria.
