The management of Kwara State University, Malete has renounced the statement made by the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities Professor Emmanuel Osodeke which defined the institution as fake.
KWASU disclosed this in a statement signed by Dr. Saeedat Aliyu, Director, University Relations implied that Professor Osodeke in an interview aired on Arise Television tagged Kwara State University, among some other state-owned institutions in Nigeria, as “quacks” and “irrelevant” for the particular reason that these institutions are not on strike.
The statement said that KWASU which was founded about 13 years ago has become one of Nigeria’s foremost outstanding educational institutions.
It partly read:
“For the record, Kwara State University is an institution founded on the vision of advancing the frontiers of knowledge for the good of society.
“We have taken the lead as the first public university in Nigeria to extend higher education curriculum to include equipping our students with entrepreneurship skills to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
“Kwara State University is also the leading University that focuses on communities to solve challenges they face while helping to develop these communities. Currently, we are the only university in Nigeria going green in her thinking and activities as proactive measures to save the environment. All of these reflect in our mantra of ‘the green University for Community Development and Entrepreneurship.
“Again, Kwara State University is the first institution in Nigeria to mount Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering as a forward-thinking move to develop human capacity for the nation’s aeronautic and astronautic needs.
“Many of our ideas are being replicated by many other institutions which Professor Osodeke eulogized in his uncritical statements.
“Kwara State University’s entrepreneurship training model is now a recommended addition to institutions in the country just as we helped to develop the curriculum of secondary schools to enable the inclusion of entrepreneurship training at that level.
“Kwara State University has all of its academic programs accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and requisite professional regulatory bodies.
“As an institution founded barely thirteen years ago, KWASU has made a name for itself as a University that focuses on breaking new grounds, doing new things, and advancing society through its students, activities, and contributions to industry and society as a whole.
With excellent academic staff, many of whom are renowned nationally and internationally, coupled with the quality of our graduates, many of whom are in practically every state of the country and even in many countries of the world, the statements of the ASUU National President which described KWASU as among universities that are “quacks” and irrelevant in the comity of universities in the country indicates that he is limited in his understanding of what is happening around him: this is a sad commentary on the status of the person holding such a revered position.
“A retraction of this abominable statement and a published apology to Kwara State University forthwith from Professor Emmanuel Osodeke are in order as the institution would not be quiet in the face of slanderous accusations made against its very existence and contributions.”
Source: Punch