Accolades won by the university are well deserved, but there is room for improvement
his year’s convocation of the University of Lagos is, in a way, the climax of the celebration of the institution’s 50th anniversary that started last year. Indeed, for the university, there is cause to celebrate its unique place among higher institutions in the country. It was the first federal university established after independence. The older university established in Ibadan in 1948 was, at the time, a college of the University of London.
The establishment of universities in Ile-Ife, Zaria, Nsukka and Lagos brightened the hope of Nigerians that the post-colonial years would boost development in the country. Of the four, the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, University of Ife and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, were established by the Northern, Western and Eastern regional governments. Only the University of Lagos was funded from the federal purse, as a symbol of nationhood and meant to cement the unity expected to come with the 1960 independence.
Following the recommendations of the Ashby Commission set up in 1959, it was recommended that a university be established in Lagos “to offer day and evening courses in Commerce, Business Administration, Economics and Higher Management Studies.” The commission equally recommended that the university could be non-residential. However, a UNESCO Advisory Commission set up a year later advised against making the university non-residential. Rather, it called on the Federal Government to make the university complete and all-encompassing.
Consequently, the University of Lagos, fully residential and autonomous, came into being on October 22, 1962, with Professor Eni Njoku as the first vice-chancellor. It was a dream come true and it provided a rare opportunity of providing quality higher education for all Nigerians.
The late vice-chancellor of the university, Professor Adetokunbo Shofoluwe, at a pre-celebration world press conference on May 8, last year, captured its objectives: “From my vantage point, the future looks beautiful, full of promise and myriads of opportunities. I see a future of outstanding excellence in the quality of staff and of course as a consequence, of students. I see a future of trail-blazing collaboration between the academia of this university and the budding industry in Nigeria … I see UNILAG joining the league of the best 100 universities in the world.” That represented the resolve of the university community when it turned 50 last year.
In recent times, the university has won laurels and awards. Recently, it topped the list of the best doctoral theses produced by Nigerian universities. The result of the exercise carried out by the Nigerian Universities Doctoral Theses Awards Scheme ((NUDTAS) adjudged four of the doctoral candidates presented by the university as the best. In 2010, the National Centre for Energy Efficiency and Conservation was established as a testament to its standing as a great centre for science research. In the same year, the last accreditation visit to the university by the National Universities Commission approved all courses run by the departments, faculties, schools, colleges and centres of the institution.
The steady progress made by the university was made possible by the minimal disruption of the academic calendar by industrial disputes and students’ protests. This is an attestation to the maturity of the management and a budding culture of peace on the campus.
The support drawn from firms, wealthy individuals and institutions is second to none in the country. Last year, the university’s Office of Advancement acknowledged 179 such partners.
We salute the university for its steady progress and contributions to national development. We identify with its resolve to make its mark among the best centres of academic excellence in the world and urge its management to remain faithful to the goal set by successive leaders of the institution. This has already resulted in UNILAG being the university of first choice for young Nigerians who seek admission every year.
We hope that, by the time the university would be celebrating its diamond jubilee in 2022, it would have improved upon its ranking, not only in Africa, but globally.
