Kogi Federal University secures N3bn to boost tech, academic excellence

The Vice-Chancellor of Federal University Lokoja (FUL), Professor Gbenga Solomon Ibileye has said the institution has secured the sum of N3 billion Tertiary Education Trust Fund intervention for the establishment of a Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Cyber Sciences. Professor Ibileye disclosed this at a press briefing at the Felele-Lokoja permanent site […]

The Vice-Chancellor of Federal University Lokoja (FUL), Professor Gbenga Solomon Ibileye has said the institution has secured the sum of N3 billion Tertiary Education Trust Fund intervention for the establishment of a Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Cyber Sciences.

Professor Ibileye disclosed this at a press briefing at the Felele-Lokoja permanent site of the institution yesterday as part of the activities to mark his 100 days in office .

The Vice Chancellor stressed that the interventions from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund and the Federal Ministry of Education, signal strong external confidence in the institution

He stressed further that these projects will place the federal varsity at the frontier of the technologies reshaping the global economy.

“It will serve as a hub for advanced research, postgraduate training and high-value skills development for the institution and the wider region”, he said..

According to him, the institution has secured TETFund Annual Intervention and a N335 million NEEDS Assessment intervention providing dedicated resources for development of infrastructure, academic facilities and the assessed priority needs of the University.

He added :”Special interventions of N700 million and N400 million from TETFund have been committed to the upgrade of laboratories and classrooms, directly enhancing the teaching and research environment available to staff and students.

“N300 million Zonal intervention TETFund has also been secured in further support of the University’s special infrastructure”.

Professor Ibileye stated further that the institution has secured full National Universities Commission accreditation for eight academic programmes, including Mass communication, Computer science, Education Mathematics, Integrated Science, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Microbiology and Sociology,.

Professor Ibileye says : “The pioneer cohort of the College of Health Sciences has passed the Basic Medical Examination and progressed to Basic Clinical Training. Upon completion of their programme.

“They are positioned to become the first generation of medical doctors trained entirely within Kogi State- a milestone of historic significance for the University and the State it serve”.

.He added that a Central Examination Office has been established to coordinate, standardise and
safeguard the integrity of examinations across the University; claiming to be a significant step in strengthening academic systems and quality assurance.

He stressed that the institution has engaged external stakeholders, including strengthening relationship with security, intelligence and paramilitary organisations to deepen collaboration around a stable and secure learning environment .

” We have undertaking visits to traditional institutions across Kogi State to
consolidate town-and-gown relations and community goodwill”, he said .

Professor Ibileye noted that Strategic partnerships have been advanced with Badr University and Cairo University
in Egypt, the University of Pretoria, the University of Manitoba and Walter Sisulu
University, as well as collaborative partnerships with several Colleges of Education

“Each conceived, not as symbolic affiliation, but as a concrete channel for joint research, mobility, teacher development and capacity building”, he stressed.

He added that several strategic committees have been constituted to strengthen the institutional architecture of the University, including the Central Accreditation Committee, the Professor of Practice Committee, the Professorial Endowment Committee and the Security Committee, among others.

However, Professor Ibileye noted that the structural deficits of more than a decade will not yield to a hundred days intervention , assuring that he will move deliberately. sustainably, and with togetherness , to move the institution to a higher height of academic excellence.