By Gabriel Dike, Lagos
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos (Unilag), Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, says the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the academic calendar of many Nigerian universities, confirming that institutions are struggling to overcome the effect.
Ogundipe, who disclosed this on Wednesday at the 51st convocation lectures of the university, said many of the university’s plans were adversely affected and disrupted, adding that ‘in fact, we are yet to recover from the disruption of our academic calendar.’
According to the VC, universities nationwide had to cease all academic activities and send staff and students away from campus for safety.
He said when the federal government cleared universities to reopen in January, the institutions ‘realised we must take extra precautionary steps for the safety of our staff and students.
‘In doing so, the university senate approved the virtual mode to conduct teaching and examination for the semester. We also commenced training for our staff to give them adequate skills required to conduct the online teaching.
‘We identified tutors in various departments to provide relevant assistance to other colleagues in their departments. The university upgraded the alternative power supply to the server to ensure uninterrupted power supply,’ Ogundipe explained.
The VC said the university, known for being one of Nigeria’s leading institutions, especially in the area of research and innovations, consolidated its position under his watch, with Unilag ranked as the 1st in Nigeria and 12th in Africa last year.
‘Our academics have attracted over N14 billion in research grants from both locally and internationally. This is a pointer to the renaissance of research culture in the university. Our researchers also had six patents in 2019 and five in 2020 out of which two in each year have been prototyped,’ he stated.
Ogundipe revealed that scholars of Unilag continue to raise the bar of research excellence; ‘drawn from across departments and faculties, some scholars recently had their research proposals approved for generous funding with grants from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) in different categories that include Science Engineering Technology and Innovation (SETI) Research, Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) Research and Climate Change Research.’
The VC explained that convocation lecture is an important aspect of the convocation ceremonies as it affords the university an opportunity of inviting an eminently qualified individual as a guest lecturer to address any national or international issue of concern.
He said at the last convocation lectures the university had the opportunity of inviting the former Governor of Lagos State, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, whose lecture was entitled: “Inclusion: Path to a New Nation”; and the Vice President of the Federal Republic, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, whose lecture was entitled: “Nigeria Rising: The Path to Prosperity”.