Renowned medical scholar and former Provost of College of Medicine, University of Ibadan (COMUI), Professor Oladosu Akanbi Ojengbede has proposed a five-point agenda to stem the systemic rot in the premier tertiary institution.
He made this proposition in his presentation titled, “Body Scan of the Great University of Ibadan in the Eye of a 50-year Sojourn,” on August 14 at the Monthly Workshop for Well-Informed Workforce (MWWW), which took place at the Paul Hendrickse Lecture Theatre of CoMUI.
Emeritus Prof. Ojengbede, whose association with UI spans almost six decades during which he also served as Acting Vice Chancellor, recommended formative student-lecturer interaction, promotion of academic leadership and standards, funding of relevant researches, judicious utilisation of technology and the building of leadership succession into every system to shore up declining education standards.
Going down memory lane on the heydays of the premier university, Professor Ojengbede who was among the 1967 set of the institution, noted that during the glorious era of UI, admission process was very transparent, the lecturers were globally recognized and dedicated while the university’s facilities were topnotch.
He said the student-lecturer ratio was optimal and relationships were fantastic and close, with lecturers and students taking refreshments together at break times thus making the interaction between them extend beyond academic work to include social activities and mentorship.
“Lectures were not postponed and lateness was never tolerated… People were more focused and had a lot of opportunities for grants… They gave us the best … they provided wide opportunities for the few students while the university provided an environment for all-round development.
"As a student, there was opportunity to be a tutorial lecturer and you were paid for it… People moved from the Administrative Department and Non-Academic Section to the Academic Department… They will allow you to fulfill your dreams. The system supported them and they supported the system which also supported excellent performance… and they used all that to develop the system… But now it is no longer so’’. He lamented that the increase in the number of federal, state and private tertiary institutions in the country can not keep pace with the ever-ballooning yearly student enrollment population over the years.
Professor Ojengbede further argued that contemporary challenges such as higher student-teacher ratio, inadequate and deteriorating infrastructure, poor record-keeping leading to loss of institutional memory and declining academic standard conspire to bedevil the University of Ibadan.
He pointed out that UI, as the first university in the country, is the pace-setter in many areas especially academic expansion as it has served as the womb from which other great universities such as University of Calabar, University of Jos, University of Ilorin were conceived and birthed. He mentioned that UI also pioneered the process of staff schools with the UI Staff School, International School, Ibadan (ISI) and Abadina School. He reiterated that the institution should spare no effort in continuing to not only carry the torch of academic excellence and rigour it has been renowned for but raise the standard.
While rounding off his lecture, Professor Ojengbede traced the genesis of the rot in Nigeria’s tertiary education to a moving incident during General Yakubu Gowon’s era as Nigeria’s Head of State, when lecturers embarked on a strike to protest deteriorating facilities in universities.
The Federal Military Government struck back by ordering them out of their official quarters and with about 90 per cent of them having no house of their own, the lecturers were forced to beat a retreat and go back to work; their demands unmet.
Emeritus Professor Ojengbede identified the incursion or intrusion of the military into leadership succession in Nigerian universities as another watershed in the story of the educational rot.
He said the Federal Military Government once instructed UI management to give an honourary doctorate degree to an African country leader. The matter soon snowballed into a tug of war because the request was turned down and the government was informed that UI doesn’t confer honorary degree that way.
Ultimately, UI did not give the leader the doctorate degree. This did not go down well with the Head of State. After this episode, the Federal Military Government began to transfer VCs as it would any ministry staff.
Then during a graduation ceremony, the military leader took off the cap of the VC of UI according to Professor Ojengbede and said he wanted to use it to collect donations. “That was how symbolically and spiritually the university system in Nigeria was ‘decapped’.”
The ex-Provost however expressed optimism that restoration of the old glory was still possible and the scenario of UI of 1967 re-enacted and even improved upon. To do this, he said all the hands of UI staff must be on deck. He said the staff should work on the institution’s mentorship system, institutional memory should be preserved through adequate record-keeping, academic research, global recognition/connection and academic standards in terms of academic research methods, rigour and training.
Professor Ojengbede said his sojourn at UI taught him that people remember those who took their development/welfare seriously. He has also learnt that leadership is service and not about fulfilling personal ambition but using the past to develop the present and prepare for the future. In addition,his sojourn has taught him that resilience is important and multi-disciplinary practices should be encouraged. He recommended that there should be better translation of policies, that sustainable funding and career academic are all important and that research must solve real problems adding, “If you do research that doesn’t benefit anybody, nobody is helped.”
He stressed that the future of UI and Medicine education rest strongly on competence, humanism, simulation and technology with emphasis on ethics and verification.
He advised the upcoming generation to focus on building depth before visibility. “They should use technology to improve or extend their thought process, not to replace it.”
Earlier, in the opening remarks, the Provost of COMUI, Prof. J. O. Ogundiran, who was represented by the Deputy Provost, Prof. S. B. Olaleye at the 23rd edition of the College’s Monthly Workshop for Well-Informed Workforce (MWWW), commended the Planning Committee led by its Chairman, Prof. Ogah.
In attendance were the College’s management team including the Secretary to the College and Deputy Registrar, Mr. A. E. Oladele, Financial Controller, Mr. S. O. Ayansina and the Medical Librarian, Dr. Grace A. Ajuwon. Deans of faculties, directors of institutes, heads of departments/units, teaching and non-teaching staff were also present.
The 24th edition of the workshop holds September 11, 2026 and will be delivered by Mrs.Olubunmi. O. Faluyi, a former registrar at the premier University.