VC calls for timely completion of postgraduate programmes
… Olaitan urges PG lecturers to be mentors not dictators
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, SAN, has urged lecturers, supervisors, and administrators of the Institution’s postgraduate programmes to ensure that students complete their studies within the stipulated time frame.
This is even as a Professor in the Department of Health Promotion and Environmental Health Education, Faculty of Education, Olukunmi ‘Lanre Olaitan, urged postgraduate teachers, supervisors, and administrators to serve as mentors rather than dictator in guiding postgraduate students.
The duo spoke at the maiden Postgraduate School Lecture and Workshop last Wednesday (January 29, 2025) at the University Auditorium.
Declaring the event open, Prof. Egbewole explained that timely graduation is essential for maintaining the quality and credibility of the University’s postgraduate degrees.
While appreciating the efforts and dedication of academic staff in overseeing the postgraduate programmes, the Vice Chancellor stressed the need for a commitment to efficiency in programme execution to uphold academic standards.
He said, “For any Postgraduate School that is worth its salt, quality assurance is imperative. Therefore, I want to appeal to us that our postgraduate programmes should be such that we will be able to defend the degrees that we are awarding. I plead that time is money. Hence, we must endeavour to put in place time management strategy such that a three-year programme is a three-year programme and an 18-month programme is an 18-month programme and nothing more. That is the only way we can sustain the PG programme”.
On efforts to support postgraduate education, the Vice Chancellor disclosed that the University Administration had pushed for the approval of a Ph.D. supervision allowance, which has now been approved by the Senate. He announced that the implementation of the allowance would commence from the current academic session.
In a lecture delivered at the event, titled “Training the 21st Century Graduate Students: Expectations, Skills, and Flexibilities”, Prof. Olaitan, who is a Human Sexuality, Reproductive & Family Health Specialist, urged postgraduate teachers, supervisors, and administrators to serve as mentors rather than authoritarian figures or dictators in guiding postgraduate students.
Prof. Olaitan, who opined that a good supervisor or administrator should act as a catalyst, not a controller, called on postgraduate lecturers to abandon the rigid, authoritarian approach of the pre-21st century, which was didactic, content-focused, and offered limited feedback. Instead, he advocated for a modern, student-centered approach that is collaborative, facilitative, and supportive, with regular feedback and a strong emphasis on skills and competencies.
According to him, the priority in postgraduate education should shift from the lecturer to the student, ensuring that learning outcomes align with students’ needs and career aspirations.
Speaking earlier, the Dean of the Postgraduate School, Prof. Bamidele Victor Owoyele, said recent experiences in postgraduate administration, such as programme delays, conflicts between students and supervisors, and the demand for increased responsiveness to student needs, underlined the need for a forum like the workshop.
In spite of the challenges, the Dean said that the Postgraduate School had made remarkable strides over the past few sessions that reaffirm the position of the School as a leading postgraduate institution in the region.
