UNILORIN VC evaluates situation of urgency in higher education sector regarding brain drain

Professor Wahab Egbewole, the Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), asked governments at all levels to declare a state of emergency in the higher education sector in order to solve the brain drain crisis on Friday.

He stated this at the 37th and 38th combined convocation ceremonies of the school held at the main campus in Ilorin. “Our institutions need more hands to deliver on their mandates and funds for serious academic works, researches, and collaborations for the desired outputs,” he said.

The college produced almost 25,000 graduates for the combined 2020–2021 and 2021–2022 academic sessions, with 450 receiving first-class honours.

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In his speech titled “The End is Better,” the vice chancellor stated that the occasion was the conclusion of many years of the students’ toil, devotion, and tenacity, adding that “or it is not an end, but the beginning of a new chapter your lives.”

He urged the graduating students, “The world is facing significant challenges, from climate change to social inequality, and it is up to you to be the agents of change.”

He pushed students to use critical thinking skills, think outside the box, be open-minded, and work with others to discover solutions to the challenging problems.

Egbewole revealed that UNILORIN obtained TETFund awards of N200 million for zonal interventions, which are being used to carry out various projects, and N500 million for student housing.

“The University produced four patents in the 2022/2022 academic session and currently has a total of 36 patents with the Federal Government through the National Office of Technology Acquisition and Promotion, NOTAP, Abuja,” he added.

In his convocation address, Professor Toyin Falola of the University of Texas at Austin in the United States of America noted that the rapid pace of modernization is frequently to blame for the widening socioeconomic disparities currently occurring in Nigeria.

“As urban centres become hubs of economic advancement, a noticeable discrepancy arises whereby rural regions face challenges such as poverty, inadequate provision of essential services, and limited opportunities for quality education and healthcare,” he said in his speech on “Modernity, Modernization, and Values.”