By Ahmed ‘Lateef
The new Vice-Chancellor of the Kwara State University, Malete, Professor Muhammed Mustapha Akanbi, has unfolded his areas of focus upon assumption of duties in the institution.
In an exclusive interview with The Herald yesterday, Akanbi said his administration in the state owned varsity would focus on students and staff welfare, attract funding and tap into Information Communication Technology (ICT).
The former Dean of the University of Ilorin noted that state owned varsity like KWASU requires foreign funding to be able to grow research and learning in the institution, adding that he would also strive to help academic staff attend local and international conferences to widen their horizon and secure grant for them for research and innovations.
The Herald reports that the state Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Science and Technology, Mrs Saadat Modibbo-Kawu, had on Wednesday, conveyed Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s approval of appointment of Akanbi as the new Vice-Chancellor of KWASU.
The KWASU boss assured that he would also focus on adequate motivation of staff to enable them deliver optimally.
“I have a clear cut vision of what i want to do as contained in my vision and mission statements. But to simplify it, there are thee things I’m going to be looking atOne, I’m going to ensure that the university is students-focused. This is because primarily, our job is to teach students and in turn to help the society.
“Two, I will be looking at funding. In a state university, we need funding. Without adequate funding, we will not be in a position to deliver much. Three, I intend to look into Information Technology (IT). We live in an IT world. Already, the school has a solid foundation for IT, we intend to improve on it.
“As you can see, with the coronavirus challenge that we have, students are not in school but we can’t sit down. We will have a vibrant and robust ICT Learning Resource and we can still from our homes do teaching and research.
“And of course, the people that would support me to achieve this mission are the staff, both academic and nonacademic staff. I intend to invest in their welfare. We are going to ensure that staff are well motivated, because if they are not well motivated, they would not be able to deliver”, Akanbi said.
Source: The Herald Newspapers (Friday April 3rd, 2020)
