The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Governing Council of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Prof Siyan Oyeweso, has reiterated the Council’s strong commitment to the welfare of all categories of staff and students of the institution.
Conscious of the need to boost the morale of staff and promote peace and industrial harmony, the Council and management, according to him, have ensured that staff are now being promoted as at when due, while the Council also prioritised students’ welfare in the scheme of development of the university.
In view of this, the Pro-Chancellor noted that a number of student hostels had already been refurbished while others are under renovation, even as he stated that the management had also ensured steady power supply to all halls of residence, as well as the Hezekiah Oluwasanmi Library and other faculty libraries.
Oyeweso, the 21st Pro-Chancellor of OAU disclosed this during the 48th convocation of the university, added that the Council has put in place the OAU 25-Year Strategic Plan (2025-2050), which major aim is to map out direction, adapt to changes, optimise resource allocation, attract more funding, ensure sustainability in building on legacies of success and shape a brighter future for the university, in order to mitigate current and future challenges.
According to him, the Strategic Plan would redefine OAU’s engagement with its communities, foster collaborative partnerships, and promote sustainable development through enhancing research output, improving societal impact and creating mutually beneficial relationships with stakeholders.
Besides, the Pro-Chancellor noted that the Council, with the strategic plan, is set out to address the challenges facing the university in a resource-scarce and extremely competitive world, and to confront the various challenges with dedication and resilience, and for which some modest accomplishments have been recorded within a short time.
“In our attempt to build on the successes already attained by the previous Councils of this great institution, we inaugurated the Strategic Plan Committee, comprising all stakeholders with the terms of reference to put together a plan that will serve as a road map, guiding us towards excellence in teaching, research and community engagements from 2025-2050,” he said.
Towards this end, he noted that the Council and university management have worked seamlessly to reach out for support for the university as part of moves to bridge the infrastructural deficit of the institution.
Through such efforts, the Council chair explained that a 10-room professorial suites was donated to the Faculty of Arts by Daere Afonya-a Akobo Foundation, which is currently under construction; saying a mutually beneficial working relationship also initiated with the government strategic agencies, including the National Land Agricultural Development (NALDA) and the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) has continued to yield results.
Subsequently, Oyeweso added that the Council and management have reached an advanced stage of its implementation based on the directive of the Federal Ministry of Education on full implementation of the White Paper on the 2016-2020 Visitation Panel Report.
As part of determination of ensuring a stable academic environment, the Council, the Pro-Chancellor noted, had interfaced with various stakeholders within the university, particularly the leadership of all the staff unions with a view to ensuring industrial peace and harmony in the university, as well as to encourage the closing of ranks among differing unions.
