By Samuel Sunday
Ekiti State University is set to elevate its global standing with a bold agenda of international collaborations, strategic fee adjustments, and significant academic expansion.
The University Vice-Chancellor, Joseph Babatola Ayodele announced this on Tuesday while addresing the Institution’s 30th convocation press conference held at the University main campus in Ado-Ekiti, the State capital.
According to the VC, the university is reviving partnerships with leading institutions in the UK and US, including a collaboration with a university in Northern Ireland to strengthen research and innovation in the Faculty of Science.
These partnerships will enable scholar exchanges, joint academic programmes, and collaborative research initiatives. Adding that inspite of the economic challenges, the university remains committed to staff welfare, with salaries and pensions paid promptly.
“This university is not owing salaries or pensions,” Ayodele emphasized.
Speaking on the adjustments made in the Institution’s tuition fees for new students, the university cited that medical education costing ₦6 million per session, law, nursing, and engineering programmes costing ₦3 million, and education-related programmes averaging ₦800,000 per session which necessitated the adjustments, saying that the returning students retain their existing fee structure.
Babatola stressed that over 30 new programmes in emerging fields like AI, Robotics, and Aerospace Engineering have been submitted to the National Universities Commission and are expected to become operational soon.
Speaking further, the Vice-Chancellor explained that the university has robust security measures in place and invites investors to participate in Public-Private Partnership arrangements to expand hostel facilities for its over 40,000 students.
The university’s initiatives to boost internally generated revenue include agricultural ventures that earned over ₦1.5 million in the last academic session, said the university boss.
The 30th convocation ceremony will confer diplomas, undergraduate, and postgraduate degrees on 10,959 graduates.
The Vice-Chancellor therefore called on alumni, stakeholders, and partners to support the university’s ongoing reforms, reinforcing a commitment to academic excellence, innovation, and societal impact.
