From WOLE BALOGUN, Ado Ekiti
The Vice Chancellor of Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE), Prof Kayode Soremekun, has frowned at the seeming award of honourary degrees to the highest bidder by Nigerian universities.
He said it was wrong for the ivory towers to make honorary doctorate degrees exclusive rights of the rich.
In what appears a departure from this practice, he said that FUOYE would be conferring Doctor of Educational Administration (Honoris Causa) on secondary schools principals.
One of them is the first indigenous principal of Queens College, Lagos, Mrs. Efunjoke Coker, for her exemplary contributions to the upliftment of education in Nigeria.
The vice chancellor also said that an octogenarian and retired school principal, Mr. Francis Daramola, and a 100-year old former principal of Ekiti Parapo College, Ido-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Chief Akomolafe , will be awarded with same academic laurels.
Soremekun said this in Oye-Ekiti, on Wednesday, during a pre-convocation press conference to unveil the maiden convocation ceremonies of the university slated for April 29.
According to him, “The gesture is to remember these great Nigerians, who had in their own ways contributed to scholarship.
It is sad that we are all suffering from amnesia which makes us forget people so easily. The people we remember only remembered are politicians and with this , we will be setting a new moral standard for the Nigerian society”.
Soremekun added that the university has received a message of collaboration from the Programme Director of the Social Science Research Council of New York, United States of America in the area of academic upliftment and research.
He described this proposed academic partnership as a veritable avenue to launch the institution to global reckoning and boost its ranking on Webometrics .
“The Council be drawing their membership from FUOYE, Liberia , Sierra Leone and other West African nations. With this partnership , we will put FUOYE on global radar of scholarship”, he said.
The Vice Chancellor said the university has established three more faculties and 19 new courses within the one year he came on board, while other infrastructure in forms of lecture theatres have been added to the architectural designs of the citadel of learning.
He said the university under him had also designed a curriculum that would enhance smooth take off of the Faculty of Pharmacy in no distant time.
