OwoFactual:
KWASU VC tussle: Uncovering The Igbomina Sinister Move and Plots Against Emirate Staff.

By: Onimago Abdulsalam.

After the unfortunate event of the death of the erstwhile Kwara State University VC, late, Prof. Muhammed Akanbi. (SAN) the Ag. VC started witch-haunting and removing the Staff of Ilorin Extraction from their Key position in the hierarchical structure of the University's management. He claimed that his actions were in the interest of reposting and as such, instead of filling the positions with Ilorin Emirate-born Staff, he replaced those removed with Staff who were of Kwara South extraction or even non-Kwarans. Hence this has led to the dominance of the key position formerly held by Ilorin Emirate Staff now held by the Kwara Southerners or non-Kwarans. Shouldn't it even be questionable if a VC in an acting capacity can carry out such repositioning that has led to great injustice to a section of the State and has portrayed the said reposition as lopsidedness?

Constitutionally, The VC has exceeded the mandatory six-month acting period and why he's not been relieved for a more qualified candidate to take up the responsibility speaks volumes of the current administration in accommodating illegality to reign at the expense of legality.

His illegally continued stay in office has led to his abuse of office and misuse of power by illegally recruiting more than 300 non-academic staff via the allocation of various slots to powerful people in government and authority that has served as backers and protectors of his illegality in a bid to confirm him as the substantive VC whilst there are numbers of Ilorin Emirate born Professors lining up to complete the tenure of the deceased VC.

The Acting VC and the Registrar are reported to have met Prof. Isiaq Oloyede at JAMB with a plan of getting her a federal appointment so she can resign her current appointment and pave the way for the Ag. VC to be confirmed.

We call on all stakeholders, the true sons and daughters of Ilorin, the IEDPU, and His Highness the Emir of Ilorin to prevail on this issue of the Anti-Ilorin Emirate agenda and make timely and necessary corrections before it's too late. And the information has it that the governor has always been an indifferent man on any matter concerning Ilorin. This is not politics and shouldn't be treated as such, the governor can not allow this injustice and illegality to see the light of the day.

It's our hope and prayers that necessary steps will be taken to avert this ugly occurrence and an agenda to remove Ilorin-worthy sons from the decision-making in the University.

End.

https://timenigeria.com/re-kwasu-vc-tussle-uncovering-the-igbomina-sinister-move-and-plots-against-ilorin-emirate-staff-and-her-professors-in-particular/

Re: KWASU VC tussle: Uncovering The Igbomina Sinister Move and Plots Against Ilorin emirate Staff and her Professors in particular


The piece by Onimago Abdulsalam titled “KWASU VC tussle: Uncovering The Igbomina Sinister Move and Plots Against Ilorin emirate Staff and her Professors in particular” has indeed raised the hornet nest. It has given some of us a sleepless night considering its implications on the peaceful atmosphere at the Kwara State University, which as of today, remains one key institution flying the banners of the state across the world. Anything that would therefore affect the university negatively must be quickly nipped in the bud before it is escalated. It is for this reason I am volunteering an opinion, to check the bad blood the article may likely generate.

The said article alleged witch-hunting of professors who are of Ilorin emirate origin by the Acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Shaykh Luqman Jimoh. From what I know of that university, this is far from the truth, and the records must be put straight to disallow many from believing in the salvo the article has thrown. Let me first talk about the person of the Acting Vice-Chancellor. From what I know of this man, he is a brother to every known Ilorin emirate person. The image I have seen of him is that of a quiet, unassuming, and humble person who would, for no good reason at all, want to rock the boat or build enemies. Since the demise of the second Vice-Chancellor when the mantle of leadership fell on his shoulders, he has led the university with an inclusive and purposeful agenda. The university has run without hitches and has been making waves nationally and internationally in these past months. This attests to the administrative acumen the Acting Vice-Chancellor is endowed with. That is my impression of the Acting VC and his leadership style.

On the allegation of witch-hunting as contained in the piece by Onimago Abdulsalam, I think this may be taking an imagination too far. Statistics available to me point to the contrary. While you may want to think that the principal officers of the university seem heavily tilted to one side, this development is from an accident of history caused by the demise of the late Professor Muhammed Akanbi (May Allah bless his soul). That development should not be used to crucify the innocent Acting Vice-Chancellor.

Today at KWASU, out of nine Deans elected or appointed, Ilorin emirate has six, representing about 67%. This excludes producing the Dean of Student Affairs and that of Postgraduate School. In the same vein, out of 33 Directors of Centres in the university, the Ilorin emirate has 17, representing more than 50%. These statistics do not support the allegation of witch-hunting contained in the piece by Onimago. Other matters raised in that piece are beyond my comprehension, and so I am unable to respond.
My appeal to all those who have read the piece by Onimago is that they should not take the entire content hook, line, and sinker. Let us eschew anything that could tilt the balance at KWASU negatively. Let us have faith in the government that it would be fair and just when it is time to have a substantive Vice-Chancellor for KWASU. Let all pen pushers retreat to their tent, so that the good work in KWASU may continue.

Saliu Ayinde.

Saliu writes from Ilorin.

Repositioning Unilorin for greater relevance, the Sulyman Abdulkareem’s style

Taofeek Abdulsalam

Shortly after he became the Vice-Chancellor of University of Ilorin in October 2002, Professor Shamsudeen Amali got to know of a unique scientific invention that could save the communities in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria from the menace of oil spillage, water and farmland pollution that had ravaged the area since the 1950s when oil was first discovered in Oloibiri. That scientific invention was by the current Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Professor Sulyman Age Abdulkareem. Amali, in his wisdom, thought such unique socio-scientific intervention should not be hidden and must be advertised to the world. His thought then was that the discovery by Prof. Abdulkareem portended something good for the country that had suffered decades of agitation and militancy by youths of the area over their economic loss from water and farmland pollution as well as threat to their life. Instantly, he invited the then head of the institution’s information section to initiate media publicity on the scientific discovery and also directed the appropriate organ of the university to begin a process of patenting the Age Sulyman’s oil spillage clean up.
The patenting was however, only actualized in 2005, same year Abdulkareem was awarded the “Best Researcher of the Year Award” by the government of former president Olusegun Obasanjo. The invention, as documented by the government official report on the award, “has the property of selectively picking up oil and organics and leaving the water intact." Somme 15 years after, Nigeria has not been able to move beyond acknowledging the wisdom and good intent that informed the Age Sulyman’s invention. Today, communities in the Niger Delta creeks are still not free from the ravages of oil spillage. However, a ray of light has emerged on the project. It is said that the federal government is beginning to show interest in the invention as feelers from the Office of the Vice President indicate that government might have begun making a move on using the local oil spill management product of Abdulkareem.
The journey to achieving a permanent respite for the Niger Delta communities, which the Age Sulyman’s invention pointed to, had only been slowed down by the nation’s penchant for officialdom, but that has not diminished the merit and community feelings that informed the efforts by the university don and unique university administrator who quietly is changing the face of University of Ilorin, and has achieved significant milestones without the usual noise known with people in that realm. The man, his principle, love for fairness and justice, inclusive welfare for staff, and the great drive to repositioning Unilorin, inspire this piece. The narrative is informed by the desire to explain the spirit that drives this enigma, whose destiny appeared challenged at the beginning of his life and had surmounted the toughest of challenges to come this far.
The best way to appreciate Sulyman Age’s journey through time and life and how he chose his path and destiny, may be to trace his life from the moment he lost both parents and had to struggle through life as a teenager who also had his siblings to nurse and nurture, and then how God himself came in to give him a roof and a proxy parents, under whose shadow he achieved his educational goals. Sulyman Age Abdulkareem lost his two parents at a tender age, first his father and then his mother. He was left in the cold, with siblings to worry about. Prior to that, he had been spending more time at home than in school, due to illness. Being a category ‘A’ student, he was still able to cope, coming atop the class at times, and never missing a grade. When he came to Ilorin in 1968 from Lagos, he lost his mother and was at home for about nine months. While at home, the principal of his school then, Alhaji Y.F. Oyeyemi, discovered that the boy who came first in the class could not be found. He sought information and he was brought back to school. Abdulkareem borrowed notes to read and sat for the examination. He was still able to make the third position in spite of staying that long at home.
The difficult life continued till fate brought him into meeting Durosinlohun Kawu (who in the future was to become the Chief Judge of Kwara State, as he is now). Kawu was his college boy at the Government Secondary School, Ilorin. They became so close that during holidays he was often resident in the Kawu’s place because as a struggling orphan, he literally had no home. The family willingly accommodated him and it was rarely known that he had no blood link with them, especially with the traditional one-one Ilorin tribal mark on his face. He became integrated with the environment, and moved around with other teens of that area. So close was he to the family that the late Justice Saidu Kawu, former Justice of the Supreme Court, gave him a cow at his wedding and was there with him all through, while his son, Durosinlohun was his best man at the wedding. The late emir, Zulkarnaini Gambari also gave him substantial donation because Justice Kawu had made the emir know he had no parents.
From Kawu’s residence, fate decided to take on his life battle. His academic brilliance became his compensation for the hard life through school. While undergoing his HSC, he got five scholarships to further his education abroad. One of the scholarships was to Liverpool and another was to America. He eventually went to Liverpool and each time he traveled abroad in the course of his education, the only home he knew and always returned to was the Kawus. He only had to send money to his siblings in Oro, his original home town. Fate had been kind to him, by enabling him to pay back the community that came to his rescue at a time he was a struggling orphan, as during his tenure, 13 Ilorin sons and daughters became professors and associate professors, a record never attained in the entire history of the university. He also continues to pay back to the community through blind support to the poor and indigent ones, including paying school fees of poor students in school, a tradition he had maintained over the years. Always, he did his philanthropy through third parties, which included a former Chief Medical Director of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital. This was one principle that is not ordinarily appreciated in an environment in which everyone wants to be applauded after a public donation to the underprivileged, within the full glare of the television or the social media. There are philanthropists whose purpose in giving was public applause while a very few would do that as service to God. This is one area that Sulyman Age Abdulkareem may not be appreciated by a few, as he seeks no applause for anything he does, and never made his support to anyone a public show for anyone to applaud, as his religion teaches.
Before becoming Vice Chancellor at Unilorin, Abdulkareem was Vice Chancellor at Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin. He had been Director of SIWES for nine years at Uniorin and had served the university very well even in the turbulent years during which he stood for the survival of the system. However, Unilorin, like every other university in Nigeria, is a politically charged arena in which all kinds of interests go into war once a new Vice Chancellor is appointed. That was not to be unexpected in the Abdulkareem’s case. Those interests include that from a few who labeled him anti-Ilorin, in spite of his long years of affiliation with the community. The other sin was throwing open the gates of the university to strike, thereby altering the tradition of ‘no-strike’ in that institution. For these two, among others grievances of theirs, these people would want him Abdulkareem sacrificed.
Every man who finds himself in a position of authority must come under attack at some point because all interests cannot be satisfied. This is because interests come in many shades. Some are personal interests dressed as collective interests. Many whose interests are undermined would be ready to go to war and would even recruit ‘soldiers’ from the rank and file to prosecute such personal war. As it is with the nature of man, everyone has his style, just as his principle or belief. Where the leadership insists only in satisfying his conscience and God who is above all, there are bound to be problems. Abdulkareem may have stepped on some big toes who feel that things must be done in certain ways or that they must have a hand in all he does, or that his decisions as the university helmsman must have their input, including determining who gets what, rather than his own pursuit of farness, equality and justice, same virtues preached every Friday at the juma’at service.
The University of Ilorin, as many people would know, went through a turbulent period that lasted some years. During the ASUU ‘war’, many lecturers of the university came under threats and were not free to move around any university in the country as ‘soldiers’ from the other side were ready to ‘attack’ anyone believed to belong to the establishment. Thus, University of Ilorin was, at that time, a pariah institution. Not many academics, sympathetic to the national ASUU cause, wanted to associate with it. Though academic stability, at this time, was achieved at Unilorin and many were happy for it, it was at a price. However, the situation at that time was not the same as the situation now. Things have since changed in that institution.
A few years before Abdulkareem became Unilorin Vice Chancellor, the mood had begun to change in Unilorin, and the desire to re-integrate the university back into the national ASUU was already being championed by a group in the university. The sense of denial experienced across many universities had spread to the government sector that handles allowances and emoluments of university lecturers. Lecturers in the university had begun to lose certain benefits accrued to academics (as approved by government, and for which Abdulkareem had to go begging for the release many time) because the university chose to be different. To ASUU then, Unilorin was not part of the group whose interest the national body had fought for, because the local branch had seceded from the national union. However, while the group that favoured re-integration with the national ASUU slugged it out with the others, Abdulkareem was never a part of the debates. Specifically, during the tenure of Egbewole as the local ASUU chairman, four reconciliatory meetings with the national ASUU were held all over Nigeria. Also, during Adeoye’s chairmanship of the union, seven meetings were further held while when Usman became the chairman of the local chapter of ASUU, another four meetings were held. Abdulkareem was never a part of any reconciliation meeting of local with the national ASUU and he never received any feedback on the meetings held even when he became Vice Chancellor. He was never part of any peace talk until the warring national group came one day uninvited to his office on a wooing peace mission and he never took part in any resolution they arrived at with the local chapter. However, the story has been severally spurned by detractors as if he initiated the move that brought about the reintegration of Unilorin into the national ASUU which some power blocs are now twisting for an unknown end.
In spite of the fact that the move to return to the national ASUU began before he became the Vice Chancellor, Abdulkareem still came under attack for what was considered as returning the university to the ‘dark days’ of strike. To this group, Unilorin would have, true to its old tradition, been the only university in session in Nigeria throughout the nine month strike just being called off, but would that have been the case? However, prior to when Abdulkareem came, the reality had dawned on many that the era of isolationism had to pave way to that of inclusiveness. A realist would know that isolationism could not go on forever. As man is a political animal, so is he an economic being. The university was bound to rejoin ASUU at some point because the economic and social losses were bound to change the course of things and this came when Abdulkareem happened to be in the saddle. Making him a scapegoat for what many had silently and openly agitated for constitutes a height of hypocrisy.
Furthermore, that Abdulkareem chose justice, fairness and inclusiveness where some people would want nepotism or hero worshipping is another flaw that put him in the firing line. His belief in using who will best deliver for the position available, in an environment where appointment is by who you are and which side you belong to, which seems to be the order of the day in many institutions, constitutes another sin for which he must atone. It was just not enough to claim to have the university interest at heart and using the human and material resources best suited for the task, when the interests of those thought they matter were not taken into consideration, without risking a war. The determination to motivate staff through training and retraining, as well as providing the tools and enabling environment for all would not be sufficient where those who thought they matter were not also consulted or their blessings sought. It would be an affront, for which there must be reparation. These were areas where Abdulkareem appeared to have angered some power blocs, but he is not too bothered. Just as he had faced challenges of survival in his early life, yet made it to the top, he believed this one is a battle that should not deter him. Reliance on his God, and never bowing to a man no matter how ferocious he might look, he believed is better for his faith and belief, and he has tenaciously stuck to that. His main goal, right now, is leaving a positive mark in the history of the university. This, he has been doing quietly without funfair, with the many structure and infrastructure he has put in place. His love for the university and commitment to its progress, and indeed his pro-staff and inclusiveness posture, are what make Abdulkareem different from many.

*SPECIAL PUBLIC RELEASE ISSUED BY AGBAJI DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION (ADA)*

*IN:*

*RE: DISCLAIMER AGAINST COMMENCEMENT OF KWASU PROFESSIONAL MASTER'S PROGRAMME LEADING TO THE AWARD OF MASTER in PEACE STUDIES AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION:*

*IMPERATIVE CLARIFICATIONS ON THE ROLE OF AKEEM SARAKI*

Dear All,

*BACKGROUND*

As you all may be aware, the Ag. Registrar of the Kwara State University, Malete, Mr. Mohammed Shuaib, on Monday, 21st December, 2020, issued a DISCLAIMER in which an earlier announcement made by our brother, a strong member of AGBAJI DEVELPMENT ASSOCIATION (ADA), Akeem Saraki, concerning the commencement of Professional Masters Program in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution (MPCR) in KWASU was declared as having "no iota of truth" and that, our brother, Akeem Saraki, as the announcer, had "no authority to issue it".

As you would also notice, the said DISCLAIMER concluded, stating that,
*"any one who enters into any relationship with the Akeem Saraki with respect to his advertised program does so at his or her peril as the university will not indemnify such a person. We therefore urge the public to disregard his fake release.*

As expected, the DISCLAIMER came as a big surprise to ADA and others who know Akeem Saraki's reputation for honesty, trust and integrity.

Consequently, we contacted him to know his side of the story and, we are pleased that our brother, Akeem Saraki remains a worthy son of Agbaji for keeping his integrity intact.

First, we want to thank all friends, colleagues and family and, numerous co-staff of Akeem Saraki in KWASU who reached out to our brother, Akeem Saraki, to know his own side of the story, given his established and unshaken fame for probity, integrity and acts devoid of fraud or fraudulent activities.

We make bold to state that we are very happy he did not disappoint any of you after getting the correct gist of what transpired, which has still not in any way put his integrity at stake as the DISCLAIMER might have wrongly portrayed him.

We are pleased with his narrations showing that he only overzealously acted in the best interest of the University to promote the new program as its proposal developer and the assigned contact person. Who would not love to see his/her brainchild becoming a success story?

*NECESSARY CLARIFICATIONS: PUTTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT*

After thorough investigation, wide consultations and in the interest of Akeem Saraki’s unquestionable character and integrity, we at ADA, believing that any wrong aspersion against the personality of any of our sons or daughters must be of concern to all of us at ADA, hereby wish to make the following essential clarifications:

1. That as a hard working, industrious, and dedicated staff of KWASU, Mr. Akeem Saraki came up and presented three (3) different proposals for the establishment of programmes leading to the award of:

i. Bachelor of Arts (B.A) in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution (with specialization in Christian or Islamic Studies);

ii. Bachelor of Arts (B.A) in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution; and,

iii. Master in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution (MPCR)


2. The Vice Chancellor, Professor Muhammad Mustapha Akanbi, SAN, commended Akeem Saraki's exemplary efforts and immediately set up a Committee to look iinto the feasibility of the proposals. The Committee was made up of five (5) Professors and an Associate Professor, all of outstanding University and academic experience with the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) as the Chairman

3. That the Committee commended Mr. Akeem Saraki for his astuteness and joyfully recommended that the programmes be established in KWASU as they will not only contribute to the revenue of the institution, but will also boost the position of KWASU in University rankings

4. That, as it is in any academic institution practice, the proposals were presented before the Business Committee of Senate (because) by the Head of Department of Religions, History and Heritage Studies along with Mr. Akeem Saraki as the originator of the proposals

5. That it is not in doubt that KWASU, through the Vice Chancellor, on behalf of the Senate, has approved commencement of the Professional Masters Programme in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution (MPCR) in KWASU

6. That following that approval, being a professional program, the HOD of the Department of Religions, History and Heritage Studies in which the program is domiciled, issued an Internal Memo dated 20th November, 2020 addressed to the Director of the KWASU Business School requesting for further necessary processes for the take off of the program by January 2021 Stream

7. That in the same Internal Memo, that Mr. Akeem Saraki was named the Contact Person for the program and consequently, he started relating with the Business School as regard the program

8. That also relying on the VC's approval, the Business School did all that was necessary to include the program among the programs for the 2021 Stream in the University admissions portal (The program was actively available on the portal except if same has now been deactivated)

9. However, when the flyer of the Business School was released, the MPCR program was inadvertently omitted

10. That as the representative of the MPCR program at the Business School, Akeem Saraki drew the attention of the School to the omission and he was assured that if prospective applicants could be informed, they would be able to apply as the program has also been listed online and he took further steps to confirm this from the CIT.

11. That following that information, Mr. Akeem Saraki, in the interest of the University *announced* to the public the commencement of the program, *informing* them to access same from the KWASU website without accrediting the program to himself personally in any way howsoever, except for interested candidates to contact him for further information, being the Contact Person officially appointed for the program.

*Disclaimer of Wrong Imputation Against the Personality of Our Brother, Akeem Saraki*

Following the essential clarifications made above, we wish to state categorically that, our brother, Mr. Akeem Saraki, never requested and no one ever entered into any personal relationship with him with respect to the KWASU MPCR program and the announcement he made was not an advertisement but a mere innocent efforts at promoting/marketing the MPCR program done in good faith in the best interest of the University.

We wish to state it with all sense of responsibility that, Mr. Akeem Saraki has not and would not ask any one to make any payment to him or deal with anyone fraudulently concerning the program. Akeem Saraki has all along acted innocently in good faith and in the best interest of the University.


Therefore, there is no peril which anyone could envisage to suffer through him with respect to the announcement made.

We have given necessary cautions to our brother to learn how best he would henceforth conduct himself in his bid to demonstrate his love and commitment to the progress of KWASU.

Finally, we want to assure all those who have confidence in Akeem Saraki's integrity that his integrity remains intact with its known high value and he will never do anything to destroy same.

We want the general public to take his earlier announcement, following the Disclaimer made by the KWASU Registrar, as an administrative blunder on his own part for which he sincerely regrets.

And, on behalf of our brother, Akeem Saraki, we sincerely apologize to the public and the KWASU Management for any inconveniences such administrative blunder might have caused them, respectively.

Therefore, we urge all prospective applicants to wait for further official release on the program from the University before taking further steps.

We want to assure the general public that, our brother, Akeem Saraki, remains a man of honesty with unquestionable character; he is not a person anyone should have fears of suffering any peril from relating with him. Let the KWASU Registrar's Disclaimer be read with the message it was meant to pass across: *"don't mind Akeem Saraki's announcement, MPCR programme is not yet commenced in KWASU".*

Thank you all.

_SIGNED_


*Alhaji Musa Olanrewaju Yusuf*
(National President, ADA)
Tuesday, 22nd December, 2020



https://newsflashreports.com/2020/12/25/ada-defends-akeem-saraki-over-disclaimer-on-kwasu-mpcr-programme/

PRESS RELEASE

KWASU HAS BEEN FOREVER HUMANE TO ITS STUDENTS

The attention of the Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete, has been drawn to a sheer blackmail making the rounds to the effect that the Institution is extorting money from its students. As a responsible Institution whose motto is “Skills and Integrity,” KWASU has continued to make probity, transparency, and accountability its watchwords right from inception. As a matter of fact, no major decision has ever been taken by the management without wide consultations and communication with key stakeholders, including students. For instance, two years ago when academic departments were planning to introduce some departmental charges of between N15, 000 and N20, 000, to reflect the peculiarities of courses offered to their students, parents were invited to KWASU’s annual Open House session where they were properly briefed and where discussions were openly held on the need for such charges. We hereby give open invitation to parents, senior secondary school teachers, potential students and the general public to the 9th KWASU Open House on our campus in the summer of 2019, please be on the lookout for this and the subsequent ones!
Since the inception of the University in 2009 till date, NOTHING was ever added to the annual tuition fee being paid by both freshers and returning students, rather annual tuition fee was SLASHED by the State Government from the original N99, 500 (and the sundry fees of N50, 000, making a total of N149, 500 per year) for indigenes of Kwara State, as paid in the earlier years, to now N49, 500 tuition fees (with sundry fees of N50, 000, making total N99, 500 per year).
KWASU has not increased tuition fees in the last seven years. And KWASU does not charge discriminatory tuition in its courses, whether you study engineering or you study History, you pay the same tuition fees!
In spite of this, the University has continued to excel in setting the pace in providing unique and qualitative education among tertiary institutions in Nigeria, including offering exceptional undergraduate programmes, such as aeronautical and astronautical engineering, entrepreneurship education, tourism, hospitality and events management, among others. We just introduced a unique academic program of Advanced Military Studies at the doctoral level!
This academic year (2018/2019), and as at Sunday 23rd September 2018, about 80% of students (both returning and freshers) have indeed paid ALL their fees, hence this blackmail in the social media can be described as an afterthought and of no good intent.
It is clear that there is nowhere in the world that is serious about providing good facilities and working hard to ensure second to none education standard, that students won't pay fees such as the token ones introduced for services rendered.
Consultations were initiated before decisions on introduction of e-learning were reached. Thus, the e-learning service fee of N7,000 was arrived at after extensive consultations with the stakeholders, the students inclusive. KWASU opted for the service approach after considering it as the cheapest option to implementing blended learning pedagogy for the students. Some universities opted for pre-loaded branded hardware approach in which the students were made to pay N50, 000 or even more. Online schooling has been identified as the most realistic mode for universities to provide higher education for the ever-growing populace. The National Universities Commission (NUC) and other bodies are encouraging and facilitating the adoption of this mode. Projection has shown that greater percentage of the degrees of the future would be online. Therefore, KWASU, like other universities, has taken the initiative of keying into this innovation by inculcating the skill of online learning in the students for them to be on a par with their contemporaries worldwide. We believe only a retrogressive individual will seek to paint this cost effective and essential programme in a negative light to achieve selfish goals.
KWASU has an existing policy, which makes it mandatory for its newly admitted and final year students to be accommodated on campus and in school-controlled facilities off campus. The wisdom behind this is to properly guide and monitor the new students, as well as protect the final year students who might be vulnerable to all manner of distractions as they prepare for their graduation. The university also gives room for exemption, but students who wanted exemption are requested to apply at an appropriate time and exemption cases are treated on merit.
The management wishes to clarify that enough provision was made to accommodate all eligible students on and off campus. Up till now, there are plenty of spaces yet to be occupied by the students: more than 600 bed spaces for male and more than 300 for female are still available. In addition, some students who paid for bed spaces but failed to clear them at the appropriate time had to forfeit such to enable bed spaces be reallocated to other interested students. Those allocated to hostels less than the amount paid, were requested to apply for refund of their balance, and such refund was being paid from last week Friday.
KWASU recently launched an in-house portal (myportal.kwasu.edu.ng) which focuses on the University’s progressive and unique activities. The new portal takes into consideration the cutting edge advancements in education as applied by KWASU across various undergraduate and graduate programmes and would do well in responding robustly to KWASU’s internal matters. One of the benefits of this initiative is that the payment platform has achieved yet another feat! Students have been making payment of tuition fee and other fees in a combined transaction with just N300 for the combined transaction. The feat is as significant as it reduces the burden of having to pay N300 for individual payments as in the past. Another benefit of the new in-house portal is the fact that the newly admitted students have been assigned matriculation numbers and consequently issued with the University Identity Cards well before Matriculation Ceremony! In addition to this, there is Wi-Fi connectivity to make learning a worthwhile experience for KWASU students.
Our Department of English developed a GNS book published by the Kwara State University Press. N3000, for GNS book on Use of English, is paid only by those who offer the course after which a copy is given to each person, a standard practice in many other universities in Nigeria. The University reviewed and considered this a fair price for the book. KWASU does not allow for handouts or any payment in any form for handout by lecturers and a zero tolerant policy is maintained on this.
Finally, the university is conscious of the fact that we are in political campaign period and our state has attracted a lot of interest lately, hence some individuals from all political leanings may be using students to achieve their campaign ends. This is observable from some of the postings that have dotted the social media sphere in the last few days. Our appeal to such and their allies from all sides among students is to desist from using the future of our youths as bait in political gamble. Education is a worthwhile gift to our future generation and this should not mix with the individual ambitions of those who seek power.
In a situation where 80% of students (new and returning) have already paid full fees and classes have progressed well beyond a month, it is amazing the sudden blackmail being made of KWASU now. For two days since Friday, University Management and Student Union leaders and department association representatives have met several times and have decided to move forward with strength and focus. We have set up committees to monitor any issue internally and address them promptly anywhere it might surface from. KWASU is not looking back from its destiny of providing young Kwarans and young Nigerians a cutting-edge education in all the disciplines that we offer. Again, we invite interested persons to visit our campus and be our partners by investing in a public education venture, including PPP student housing, and many more on our 21st Century Campus!

Signed
Dr. Isiaka Zubair Aliagan
Director, Office of the University Relations,
Kwara State University, Malete.
September 24, 2018