Except wealthy Nigerians cultivate the habit of supporting universities, they may be unable to admit more eligible students because of space constraints, the Vice Chancellor (VC), Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Prof Kolawole Salako, has said.
Speaking after monitoring the institution’s Post- UTME Screening, the VC, who was represented by Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Development), Prof. Lateef Sanni, lamented that over 10,000 candidates applied for admission into the university, but the institution could only accommodate 4,000.
Salako noted with dismay that this wouldn’t have been if the elite, especially wealthy Nigerians, had cultivated the habit of supporting tertiary institutions with endowment like their foreign counterparts.
He urged the affluent to desist from blaming the government and contribute their quota to the education sector.
Spefically, he praised Africa’s richest woman Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija and University of Lagos (UNILAG) Pro Chancellor Dr Wale Babalakin (SAN) for giving to the institution and the Osun State University, urging other wealthy and well-meaning Nigerians.
He also praised foreign donors like Bill Gates gor their gesture.
“Don’t tell me to advise the government. Tell me to advise Nigerians. Bill Gate is not a Nigerian, but he’s sponsoring education, agriculture, and health in Nigeria. My advice is to wealthy Nigerians is that they should understand that all those billions should be used to assist humanity for enduring legacies.
“What our wealthy men and women should do is what their counterparts are doing in America and Europe. They go into serious endowment.
“Only one family with only one daughter donated billions of dollars to Harvard University and Stanford University. I attended a convocation on Saturday on behalf of our Vice-Chancellor, an amazon, Mrs. Alakija alone donated about N1billion facility to Osun State University.
“The UNILAG Pro-Chancellor, Dr Wale Babalakin, has done a lot too, in the area of endowment. There are several individuals who can help our university and who can support what the government is doing.”
However, he advised those that would not be admitted to choose other levels of qualified activities, such as JUPEB, saying if they qualify, they will be admitted as 200 level direct entry students.
He lamented that the space that could accommodate a larger number of students at the same time is not available unless the government gives the university more financial and infrastructural support.
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