The Technical University (Tech U), Ibadan, has been renamed the First Technical University, Ibadan.
The renaming followed the passage into law of a recent amendment to the 2012 Law setting up the Technical University, Ibadan, by the Oyo State House of Assembly.
A statement by the institution’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr Femi Babatunde, said the amendment does not affect the current status of the university as a wholly public-owned university.
The statement said: “Being Nigeria’s pioneer technical university, the addition of the word ‘First’ to the former rendering of the university’s name is deemed necessary to reassert the unique leadership position of the institution in the nation’s tertiary education space and beyond.
“Additionally, the recent amendment provides legal authority for Tech-U to receive grants and to enter into partnerships with public or private sources, other than the State Government of Oyo. Consequently, Tech-U may now solicit and invite private partners to invest in the University, its programmes and objectives.
“The Tech-U management wishes to emphatically state and reassure all and sundry that the name-change shall not compromise its avowed commitment to running a unique university committed to producing relevant researches and nurturing graduates equipped with adequate technical skills for societal transformation.
“Prospective investors are therefore free to approach the University management wherever they are willing to come in.”