By Oladele Jide Martins
The liberalization of higher education in the country has led to the establishment of many private universities. Since their coming on board, private universities have increased access to varsity education and contributed to the nation’s human capital development. One of the new private universities poised to contribute immensely to the production of graduates with appropriate skills for industry and entrepreneurship is the Vision University, Ikogbo, Ogun State. The university is a well structured and conceptualized private institution founded with a mission to provide specialized training in different programmes capable of producing visionary graduates with a drive for innovativeness for creating a productive, sustainable and peaceful society.
The promoters and founders of the university are also rooted in a vision to have a leading research-intensive and solution-driven university in Africa famed internationally for highly impactful interventions and innovativeness.
The philosophy of Vision University is to produce graduates who will deploy Science and Technology and ICT to enhance the scientific and industrial development of the country. It will contribute to human development, innovation, entrepreneurship, environmental sustainability and societal stability, and a peaceful world through teaching, research and extension programmes.
The university is located in Ikogbo, Ado Odo/Ota Ogun State, Nigeria. And in a bid to meet up with its objective of producing visionary and effective graduates, the proprietor was able to acquire an appropriately sized land and provided necessary facilities, infrastructure and manpower for the smooth take-off the university. It has well equipped classrooms and workshops in a conducive environment for learning, with adequate Hostel accommodation, WiFi internet access, computer laboratory, science laboratory and a health center. The tuition fee is moderate and affordable for all available programmes.
The Chancellor of the university is at the moment constructing a state-of-the-art Entrepreneurship Complex where the students will be trained in various skills to boost their employability and job creation capabilities upon graduation. She is also enthusiastic and urgently delving into organic agriculture for self-sufficiency and commerce anchored on various production and processing techniques for value addition, health maintenance and profitability. These will obviously differentiate Vision University graduates from others.
The dream of establishing a private university by the Proprietor, Dr. Ngozi Okafor, a philanthropist and General Overseer of The Truth Visionary Mission Worldwide, eventually came to fruition when the Federal Government, in its wisdom and foresight, deemed it necessary to grant approval to some pending applications for establishment of more new universities in Nigeria. As was highly expected by stakeholders and promoters of the then proposed Vision University located in Ikogbo, Ogun State, Nigeria, the out-going Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by former President Muhammadu Buhari granted approval for the establishment of Vision University alongside others precisely in May 2023.
The granting of license to the university to operate was therefore a milestone to over a decade of planning and projections to actualize the vision and initiative of the promoters of the brand new institution to contribute their quota in the educational development of Nigeria. It is noteworthy that the resource verification for commencement was conducted by the National Universities Commission (NUC) on November 6, 2023 and consequent upon the satisfactory disposition of the university as regards its show of preparedness, the NUC granted approval for commencement of academic work cum assumption which took off on January 5,2024.
In January 2024, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) finally included Vision University in her Central Admission Processing System (CAPS).
The university is billed to soon record another milestone in its evolutionary process with the first matriculation ceremony of its pioneer students on March 22, 2024. Vision University has, indeed, commenced strongly and hopefully for excellent academic performance with two faculties namely; Basic and Applied Science, Humanities, Management and Social Science.
While a total of eleven foundational Departments which include Biological Science, Chemical Science, Computer Science and Mathematics, Physics, Accounting and Finance, Business Administration, Economics, History, Languages, Mass Communication and Sociology are currently in operation. It is interesting to note that being a modern institution that is driven by globalized vision of the 21st Century, which is rooted in Science and Technology, the university offers bachelors’ degrees in science and arts in diverse fields such as Biotechnology, Microbiology, Industrial Chemistry, Computer Science, Cyber Security, Mathematics, Physics and Electronics. Others are Accounting, Entrepreneurship, Business Administration, Economics, History and International Relations, English, Mass Communication, Criminology and Security Studies. As time goes on, the university is structured to delve into other important branches of learning such as Agriculture, Arts, medical Science, Pharmaceutical Science, Engineering, and Education.
Vision University with its core mandate of producing well trained skilled manpower to meet up with the demands of changing world order also has employment of experienced and well qualified academic and non- academic staff. And to this end, the university Proprietor and its Board of Trustees have engaged the services of highly experienced, motivated and forward looking academics and administrators who formed the pioneer staff team under the leadership of a renowned professor of Animal Science, Prof. Benjamin Ekenyem.
The tested and trusted university don, was two-time former Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Imo State University, Owerri. He is an astute university administrator and accomplished academic of repute known for specialized researches and teaching in the university system.
The Vision University’s founder and Proprietor, Dr. Ngozi Okafor is the Chancellor, while renowned academic and university administrator, Professor Segun Awonusi, serves as the Pro- Chancellor of the new university.
It is crystal clear that the vision and mission of the university is being practically translated into concrete reality with the kind of seriousness in place which manifests through effective administrative and academic activities already going on at the university since the commencement of academic work on January 5, 2024. Those behind the project are highly fulfilled that at last they are contributing to the educational development of its catchment area, Ogun State and Nigeria.
•Martin writes from Ikogbo, Ogun State