FUNAAB To Mentor Newly Established Mountain Top, Chrisland Varsities

The Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) is set to mentor two newly-approved private Universities at becoming a force to be reckoned with, as citadels of learning. The institutions are: Mountain Top University and Chrisland University, both located in Ogun State.

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olusola Oyewole, disclosed this while receiving officers of both institutions, who paid him courtesy visits to seek partnership in terms of staff development, knowledge exchange, facilities sharing and other areas that would promote teaching, learning and research in line with the set standards by the National Universities Commission (NUC).

While receiving the team from the Mountain Top University, a faith-based University, owned by the Mountain of Fire and Ministries (MFM), Prof. Oyewole, said that FUNAAB was delighted when it received a memo from the NUC, urging the institution to mentor MTU for a period of five years.

The Vice-Chancellor reminisced on the establishment of FUNAAB on January 1, 1988, saying it sits on approximately 10 hectares of land within a 12km radius, as he highlighted the University’s mandate, motto, vision and mission statements.

Commenting on the University’s staff strength, he said there were 562 Academic and 1,421 Non-Teaching Staff with an approximated undergraduate population of 15,000, as well as 1,500 postgraduate students.

He added that the University has 10 Colleges and a Postgraduate School with 136 programmes, out of which 27 are undergraduate courses.

According to him, the University has a world-class agenda that bordered on the provision of visionary leadership, commitment to quality in whatever it does and sound funds management.

Prof. Oyewole stressed further that the University was open to collaboration from within and outside the country, adding that the institution places emphasis on the acquisition of skills and competencies in teaching, as well as engaging in quality and relevant research.

The Vice-Chancellor stated that the University has unique programmes, which would be of paramount interest to MTU such as the Community-Based Farming Scheme (COBFAS), Graduate Farming Employment Scheme (GRADFES) and the commercial Tree-Crop Plantation Programme.

He, however, charged the MTU team to prepare a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that would include their expectations, as well as define the extent of the collaboration between both Universities.