Akinnaso’s description of the Senate Building and its facilities as unquestionably the best in Nigeria, if not in Africa, will naturally elicit reaction. In terms of contemporary architectural design, I will say the picture I saw does not in any way throw it up as an architectural masterpiece. However, that does not in any way diminish the value and purpose of the project. Surely, the building stands out within the school environment, and also within the geographical zone in which it is sited. In comparing the edifice with others, one cannot lose sight of the present time the project is coming. If we are to compare the architecture with other Senate buildings built over 10 to 15 years ago, then we may be falling into the temptation of comparing orange with apple. However, this is really not the kernel of my comments or my “thinking with the Professor”. Far from it.
My view borders on the fact that the writer did not comment on the ability of the Ondo State Government in establishing and running three universities. This is even more so in an environment where education at all levels is still seen largely as a social amenity and the obligation and responsibilities of government. I recall Governor Olusegun Mimiko remarked at the ceremony that the fees being charged at the Ondo State owned universities are still one of the cheapest in the country. That further lends credence to the assertion that university education is still seen and considered as a social service, where you can’t really charge fee for full cost recovery.
Ondo State currently runs the Adekunle Ajasin University at Akungba Akoko , the Ondo State University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa, and lately the Ondo State University of Medical Sciences in Ondo. As a true son of the soil of Ondo town extraction, the University of Medical Sciences should naturally be a thing of joy for me. But as someone who always looks at issues from the strategic imperatives, I cannot but divert attention to the reasonableness test of the universities. Looking at universities as research centres, one cannot but ask how well these universities are being funded to play this critical role for research, invention and adaptation of such inventions in solving human problems.
So we must, as a matter of importance, ask questions about the ability of the Ondo State Government to adequately fund and sustain three universities, particularly in the face of dwindling revenues across all the states of the federation. Akinnaso’s treatise failed to address this question. Running these three universities under one university would naturally cost less in terms of administration and other overhead expenditures without taking anything away from their respective core objectives. It is not unusual to run multi-campus universities. The University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where I graduated from has for such a long time run and continues to run the Enugu Campus where most of the professional faculties – Law, Medicine, Accountancy, Architecture, and such other professional faculties are run from Enugu. In fact, medical students were actually located within the precinct of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital which is also outside the Enugu Campus of the university.
Abiodun Akinjayeju
Lagos.
akinjayeju@yahoo.com