AbdulRaheem, ex-UNILORIN VC, heads Committee on Kwara Education Varsity

A former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Shuaibu Oba  AbdulRaheem, OFR, has been appointed by the Governor of Kwara State, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, CON, as Chairman of the Committee for the establishment of the proposed Kwara State University of Education.

A statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mallam Rafiu Ajakaye,  penultimate Wednesday (November 1, 2023) also named a former Dean of the Faculty of Management Sciences, Prof. Sidikat Adeyemi; a former Dean of the Faculty of Education, Prof. Medinat Folorunso Salman and the immediate past Chairman of the Admissions Committee, University of Ilorin, Prof. Umar Gunu, as members of the 11-man Committee.

Other members of the Committee as stated by Mr Ajakaye are  Engr Sa’ad Belgore; Mrs Mulikat Lawal; Mr Femi Aina; and a former Special Adviser on Special Duties to the Governor, Alhaji Abdul-Razaq Jiddah; as well as a representative each of the Kwara State  Ministries of Housing and Urban Development and Justice while Pastor Afolayan J. Babatunde,would serve as the Secretary.

The statement explained that the state government has since started preliminary efforts towards birthing the University with the possibility of using one of the three existing Colleges of Education in the State as the launchpad.

Mr Ajakaye added that the state was also making efforts at ensuring that the Federal Government adopts one of the existing State Colleges of Education as a Federal College of Education while the third is adopting dual-mode,which empowers it to issue Bachelor’s degree in line with the recent laws governing Colleges of Education in Nigeria.

The Prof. AbdulRaheem-led Committee, according to the statement, will work out the modalities for the establishment, workings and funding of the proposed University. It will also, among other things, develop the rationale and justifications for a state-owned specialised University of Education, including an assessment of the existing conventional, non-degree awarding —NCE/Diploma — Colleges or University, which limited facilities may fall short of the eligibility for automatic registration with the Teachers’ Registration Council.

Meanwhile, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, SAN, has welcomed the constitution and composition of the Committee under the leadership of one of his predecessors, saying that bathing universities has become a pastime for the Talba of Ilorin and former Executive Chairman of the Federal Character Commission.

 Prof. Egbewole recalled that in addition to serving as either the Chairman or Sole Administrators of two of the State-owned Colleges of Education at one time or the other, the former Vice Chancellor also played similar role in the establishment of the Kwara State University, Malete and the newly approved Muhammad Kamalu-Deen University, Ilorin.

In a statement signed by the University’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Mr Kunle Akogun, the Vice Chancellor also congratulated three former Deans of Faculties at the University on their appointment as he expressed the confidence that the Committee would deliver on its mandates.

Prof. Egbewole said that the proposed University would not only add  impetus to the growing reputation of the state as an hub of tertiary education in Nigeria but also complement the efforts of the Better By Far University and other existing ones in the State in providing qualitative tertiary education to the increasing number of qualified candidates.

While congratulating Governor AbdulRazaq on the proposed University, the Vice Chancellor wished Prof. AbdulRaheem and other members of the Committee a very rewarding venture.