As Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, strives to actualize the mission of producing globally relevant future leaders equipped with the most competitive sellable skills; the University has received another professional body on its campus, this time, the officials of the Computer Professional (Registration Council of Nigeria) led by its Registrar/Chief Executive, Mr. Sikiru Shehu.
Welcoming the Registrar and his entourage to the university, the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Prof. Ajisafe acknowledged the commitment of the delegation in actualizing their mission to see for themselves the giant strides being made by the young university.
In her remarks, the Vice Chancellor, ABUAD – Prof. Sidi Osho, welcomed and thanked the visitors for taking time out of their busy schedule to visit ABUAD.
She asserted that the ABUAD dream started 2008 while the Founder, Aare Afe Babalola was serving as two-term Pro-Chancellor of the University of Lagos. His stewardship in UNILAG offered him the first-hand experience and to witness the myriad of problems confronting tertiary education in the country, which include indiscipline, cultism, incessant strikes, inadequate funding and unstable University calendar, all of which have adversely affected the quality of education in the Nigeria Universities.
The Vice Chancellor stressed that ABUAD is the only University that took off from its permanent site and has consistently developed its infrastructure and learning facilities in tandem with the global best practice in the academic world. The university has also continued to emphasize its commitment to learning and character formation in order to produce best equipped leaders for tomorrow.
According to her, the curriculum of ABUAD and its uniqueness is well known earning the university the reputation as a centre for reformation for students with challenging behaviours.
The Vice Chancellor announced that the university will be graduating its first set of students this year and some of them will be from the department of ICT/Computer Science/Computer Engineering. A total of 43 students will be graduating from that department this year.
The Vice Chancellor hinted the visiting delegation from the Council that a philanthropist has promised to donate 116 units of Computers to Afe Babalola University in order to actualize the vision and mission of the Founder and to achieve the vision of making the university a world class university. She further disclosed that the JAMB (Joint Admission Examinations Board) has decided to use ABUAD as one of the centres for conducting its newly introduced online examinations.
The Registrar, Computer Professionals (Registration Council of Nigeria), Mr. Sikiru Shehu, commended the Founder and the Management for the spirit of oneness that exists amongst them. He said he had personally voted Aare Afe Babalola as the man of the year on several occasions and he does not regret doing so especially with what he saw at ABUAD.
He pointed out the need for professionalism in the sector. He vowed to work with the government to stamp out quackery within the profession. According to him, the Council will work assiduously to achieve professional excellence and promote quality assurance within the sector.
According to the Registrar, on his arrival to ABUAD, he perceived an atmosphere of God’s presence, unique dress code, excellent staff and students’ relations and high sense of respect from staff and students of the university. He commented: “I have visited many Universities in Nigeria and many of them are carrying what is more than their capacity ……. People are sitting on windows for lectures, but in ABUAD the facilities are bigger than what they are carrying. Quality is not what you can talk about …… you must walk it”.
The Registrar of the Council also said he would ensure effective collaboration between the Council and ABUAD especially through the department of Information Technology. As a head-start, he promised that students of ABUAD can be inducted into the professional body upon their graduation from the university.
The Head of Department, Computer Science/ICT, Prof. Emmanuel Ademola, expressed his satisfaction with the visit. He praised the Founder’s commitment towards connecting learning ability with living.