- Professor Omotesho told the university’s staff that they would be eligible for long service awards, especially those who had worked extremely hard for the institution for at least 20 years.
- Professor Arosanyin, who teaches at the Department of Economics, said that the university decided to convoke the consultative meeting so as to distil information from the bottom to the top and for everyone to be part of the plan.
The authorities of the University of Ilorin have announced a decision to institutionalise the ‘‘Lecturer of the Year’’ award in each of the 16 faculties of the university.
During a special consultative meeting held in the university’s main auditorium, the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), Professor Olubunmi Abayomi Omotesho, made this statement while going over the contents of the university’s fifth strategic plan, titled “Shuttling to the Space.”
The purpose of institutionalizing the award is to promote increased productivity and service delivery among the University’s academic staff, according to the Deputy Vice Chancellor, who also serves as the Chairman of the Committee on the Strategic Plan.
Professor Omotesho, a former academic planning director at the university, maintained that the main goal of the prize is to help the school generate exceptional graduates who can compete with their peers throughout the globe.
He said that the “Merit Awards,” which are now given during convocation ceremonies to worthy employees of the university’s many departments, will continue in place in addition to the new honors.
Professor Omotesho went on to say that more prizes would be institutionalized for other university stakeholder categories in order to foster the aspiration for the grandeur of the most prestigious university in the country.
In addition to recognizing exceptional instructors and other groups of interested parties, Professor Omotesho told the university’s employees that they would be eligible for long service awards, especially those who had worked extremely hard for the institution for at least 20 years.
Additionally, he announced that the institution will host an Open Day where parents would be able to visit the campus specifically to gain an understanding of how well their children and wards were performing overall.
Speaking at the event that attracted many senior officials of the university across various cadres, the institution’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, SAN, encouraged staff members to always play their roles effectively for the university to continue to witness qualitative growth and for it to become the best in Nigeria, among the top 10 in Africa and one of the leading 500 at a global level.
The Vice-Chancellor, who thanked all the participants, explained that every staff of the university is important and that when each of them plays his role as expected, the university would enjoy tremendous progress.
He added that the decision to hold the interactive session was targeted at enabling concerned staff to be part of the decision-making and for them to have input on how the university would be run in the next five years.
Professor Egbewole, who is also the Secretary-General of the Association of West African Universities (AWAU), emphasised the need for ‘‘staff and students of the university to always be on the same line, paragraph, page and book’’ for the university to achieve its corporate objectives and the essence of the new strategic plan being put in place.
In his welcome address, the Director of Academic Planning, University of Ilorin, Professor G. T. Arosanyin, said that everything that would determine the future of the university is embedded in the document.
Professor Arosanyin, who teaches at the Department of Economics, said that the university decided to convoke the consultative meeting so as to distil information from the bottom to the top and for everyone to be part of the plan.
In their various contributions, the participants, who came from different units of the University, commended the management of the University for deeming it fit to organise the event, as they said that it was an opportunity for them to unveil their impressions on the strategic plan and the general running of the University.
One of the participants, Mrs Bilikis Giwa, encouraged the management to appoint a Desk Officer who would monitor the implementation of every aspect of the plan when it is eventually adopted, saying that coming up with a brilliant plan has never been the problem but faithful implementation.
The meeting was attended by the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Management Services), Prof. Suleiman Funsho Ambali; the Registrar, Mr Mansur Adeleke Alfanla; the Ag. Bursar, Mr Oba Abdulbarki; and the University Librarian, Dr. Kamaldeen Tunde Omopupa, as well as the Director of Corporate Affairs, Mr. Kunle Akogun, among several others.