Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan
The 14th Vice Chancellor University of Ibadan, Prof. Peter Olapegba, yesterday assured of preserving what works and reforming the establishment for the long run and producing college students who’re vital thinkers and downside solvers.
Olapegba who gave the reassurance whereas talking throughout the lecture to mark his inauguration, held on the Trenchard Hall of the college, stated his administration will promote internationalisation of UI via collaboration, scholar trade applications, and visiting scholarships.
While noting that excellence prices cash, the 14th Vice Chancellor maintained that authorities funding stays important, promising to discover information commercialisation and trade partnership.
He promised AI-literacy training on the establishment via strengthening of a digital ecosystem in its operations.
The Professor of African History and Black research at Northwestern University, United States of America Akin Ogundiran, whereas delivering the inauguration lecture, stated, “to be related, the college should develop into extra African and extra international; extra rooted and extra linked; extra technologically succesful and extra humanistic; extra entrepreneurial and extra moral; extra unbiased in thought and extra accountable in service.
“Knowledge sovereignty means meeting the world standing upright: collaborating without subordination, learning without surrendering agency, and partnering without becoming dependent. Africa must not merely be a place where other people’s theories are tested. It must be a place from which theories, technologies, and solutions originate.”
The Chairman of the inauguration lecture, Emeritus Professor Oluwole Akande, said that Olapegba is bringing to the workplace helpful institutional expertise and an understanding of the tasks concerned in managing a college of Ibadan stature.
He stated, “African universities should definitely be customers of international information, however they need to even be producers of information. We should strengthen analysis, promote innovation, protect our mental and cultural heritage, and develop options to the challenges confronting our societies.
“Our relevance will ultimately be measured not only by our academic publications and international rankings but also by our contributions to human development, social progress, and national transformation.”
