Remarks by FUL VC, Prof. Akinwumi during the Signing of MOU with NILDS in Abuja on 25th July, 2023

REMARKS BY PROFESSOR OLAYEMI AKINWUMI, VICE-CHANCELLOR, FEDERAL UNIVERSITY LOKOJA ON THE OCCASION OF THE SIGNING OF MOU WITH THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR LEGISLATIVE AND DEMOCRATIC STUDIES, ABUJA, TUESDAY 25 JULY, 2023

PROTOCOLS

It is with a lot of excitement that I, on behalf of the Governing Council, Senate, Management, staff, and students of Federal University Lokoja accept the prospect of an enduring institutional partnership with the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies.

This partnership is the culmination of several strategic engagements between the officials of our two great institutions starting from 2021 when, as Vice Chancellor, I was exploring frontiers of programmes expansion that will deepen FUL's impact.

One of the ways for us to achieve this is through the expansion of the scope and focus of our postgraduate training. 

As an institution, we were challenged by the existing weak curriculum sync between Nigerian universities and some specialised, highly sensitive, yet ignored contemporary fields such as parliamentary and legislative studies, which require the training of expertise in order to strengthen their operations and functions 

We were, therefore, motivated to introduce industry-tailored, top-notch professional programmes in order to fill this existing gap.

In our strategic thinking, we are convinced that for effectiveness and impact, the programmes need to take easy access, location, and proximity to the target prospective students into consideration.

This is where NILDS came into the picture. 

As the premier and preeminent institution for the training of expertise in Legislative Studies and parliamentary administration, NILDS became our natural preference. 

Apart from enjoying the exclusive statutory and legal privilege of being the only institution with the mandate to train skilled manpower in this area, NILDS also boasts of a rich reservoir of highly qualified academics and intellectuals who can deliver on our quest.

In addition, NILDS' state of the arts infrastructure and academic resources will provide a comfortable learning environment for our students, who are mostly drawn from the highest cadres of their respective careers. 

Our two institutions are, therefore, coming together to share and benefit from their respective best traditions for their mutual benefits.

Permit me to say, for instance, that FUL has continued to grow steadily as the University of the 21st century, whose operations are driven by the best global academic traditions. We have continued to show remarkable commitment to growth and excellence, as demonstrated in our recent rankings globally. Of the one hundred and twenty universities ranked in Sub-Saharan Africa, FUL came within the 51st to 60th bracket, and number 17 in Nigeria and 9th among federal universities in the country. 

We have also expanded our programmes with the recently established College of Health Sciences currently in 200 Level and in the process of admitting its first set of students into the Department of Nursing Sciences. The Faculty of Engineering is also about to start admission into the three departments approved by the National Universities Commission. 

We have our sight on the establishment of the Faculty of Law with the commencement of the construction of its faculty buildings. The Faculty of Agriculture will also soon take off. It is expected that both faculties will admit their first set of students in the 2024/2025 academic session. 

While expressing our appreciation to the DG and the Management of NILDS for establishing this partnership, I wish to express our firm commitment both to excellence in the running of the programmes under this partnership and to the terms of our engagements as credible institutional entities.

Thank you