By Bayo Ogunmupe
The proprietor of Crescent University, Abeokuta, Judge Bola Ajibola will host the 10th convocation of Crescent University at Abeokuta on the 22nd of this month. It also falls on his 84th birthday anniversary. In this interview with the economics columnist of The Guardian BAYO OGUNMUPE, he spoke on the growth of the university and the achievements of the university since its inception 12 years ago.
We are happy being able to establish this university. Former president Olusegun Obasanjo and I registered our universities respectively at the same time. We were urged on by the Baptist mission who solicited funding for their Bowen University from us as former students of Baptist schools.
What is your vision for Crescent University?
Crescent University is a faith based institution. It was licensed by the Federal Government on June 9, 2005 to be fully residential at both undergraduate and post graduate levels. Crescent has many attributes. We revise our curriculum every year. Our vision is to impart moral as well as academic education to our graduates. We aim at achieving moral and academic excellence in our university. For that reason every student undertakes the study of Global Citizenship course. This enables our wards to cultivate good character, impeccable integrity and moral values of international standard.
How are you coping with finance and research funding?
The federal government should give unfettered support to private universities in order to develop Nigeria. Therefore, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) should be extended to the 62 private universities actively working for Nigerian development at the moment. It is my view that private universities are contributing immensely to the growth and prosperity of Nigeria. Our university is poised on achieving academic and moral excellence in the world. Our graduates are versatile in Information and Communication Technology which is why they adapt smoothly to workplace conditions and excel everywhere they go.
What are your special aims for the Bola Ajibola College of Law (BACOLAW)?
It gladdens my heart to announce that our law graduates are very outstanding and are among the best in the practice of law in the world. Through our quality teaching, they are taught normative logic as a new epistemological system of analytical reasoning and cognition. These new branches of knowledge render previous assumptions obsolete. As knowledge doubles every three years, it improves the quality of our alumni. We are known for good morals. Company owners come in droves seeking to give jobs to our alumni. We have added about 3,600 Crescent alumni to the workforce. An average of 400 students graduate from us yearly.
There is a special case of Adedeji Joshua Ajayi who beat 170 others to clinch the position of Senior journalist in charge of Planning at the British Broadcasting Corporation in London. Ajayi had all his degrees from us including his doctorate degree. Let the federal government treat every university equally to encourage the building of more private universities in Nigeria. Apart from BACOLAW, we have the Post Graduate School and the College of Islamic Studies in Crescent University. Our groth in 12 years has been phenomenal and we thank God for that.
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