Chances are high that you have heard the debate about the merits (or lack of it) of Private Universities in Nigeria where students are highly regulated and bound by strict policies. We bring to you some facts about one of the said Universities – Bowen, Here are all the facts you need to know about Bowen University.

1. The University is founded in honour of Rev. Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson is a name that rings so many bells in Nigeria especially when you talk about Education and Christianity. He arrived in Nigeria in 1850, and he was the first Southern Baptist missionary in the area. He loved the people and the people loved him.

In 1853 he settled at Ijaye, present-day Oyo State, and with the assistance of his American colleagues established other stations in Yorubaland especially Abeokuta. He became an erudite Yoruba scholar of high repute, publishing a dictionary and grammar of the language after his early retirement due to poor health.

There was no better way to immortalize him than to establish an ivory tower in his name. Bowen University is owned and operated by the Nigerian Baptist Convention. Located in Iwo, Osun State, the University is the first and largest Baptist University in Africa.

2. You will need a Visa to leave the campus
You never envisioned this, did you? To leave the campus of Bowen University requires a Visa. No, there’s no embassy in the school premises except if you consider the campus as Nigeria and outside of it, Canada. And it’s not easy to obtain this visa either.

To succeed you will need to meet several officials who will interview you and if your reason for leaving the campus isn’t cogent enough, your application for visa (request) will be denied.

Even when the permission is granted, you will be timed. Although the students, frustrated by this, once revolted violently against some of the policies, nothing has changed. It is a private University and life must be private, not public, it seems.

3. Chapel attendance is compulsory irrespective of religion
Either call it morning devotion or morning assembly . However, it is important for anyone to know what they are subscribing to. All students must be available for chapel attendance every Tuesday, Thursday, and twice on Sundays. This is mandatory for all students regardless of religion, and skipping any chapel service calls for a suspension. This is not big news in Nigerian private Universities owned by Churches however.

Covenant University, for one, indulges in similar practices. The students also need to attend compulsory morning and night devotions.

4. Dress code is important
Your body is the temple of God. This is one mantra Bowen University is not taking for granted. To them, physical appearance is bound with character development and learning. Bowenites, as the students are called, don’t wear jeans, you only appear for classes in shirt, trousers and ties and no hairdo that is out of the ordinary.

The university is responsible for character development and students are expected to dress in utmost decency within the school environs.

Bowen University is not alone in this. Almost all private universities owned by churches lay strong emphasis on dress code. In Covenant University owned by Living Faith Church, a student who wore an afro hairstyle was once forcefully given a haircut at the school gate before granting him entrance.

5. 80% Class attendance is a mandatory prerequisite before you write Exams
Exams are a big deal but school attendance, for Bowen, is a deal of equal status. While every citadel in Nigeria has seventy percent attendance as a requirement for sitting for examination in every course and this is just nominal on paper. In Bowen, it’s eighty percent and they follow through. No eighty percent, no exam.

For more stories visit www.seriousmata.com