By Adeyinka Adeniran
The National President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Bishop Francis Wale Oke has said anyone looking for investment for quick gains should look away from starting private universities in the country.
This is as he appealed to the Federal Government to consider supporting private universities with funds in the Tertiary Education Trust Funds (TETFund), saying running private universities is expensive in the country.
He said no private varsity gives returns to the owners and proprietors in 10 years but continuous investments to sustain standard and impact on human capital.
Wale Oke, Chancellor, Precious Cornerstone University, Ibadan made the call while speaking at the official unveiling of ZOE University, Ipapo, Oyo State, at an event which held in Ibadan, the capital city.
According to the PFN boss, despite the challenges of funding, the initiative is a good development as it would alongside existing ones groom the younger generation and serve as escape routes to youths from being engaging in hooliganism, thuggery and organized crimes as well as discourage the ‘japa’ syndrome in the country.
He added that anyone looking for quick money could not get it in a private university venture.
The President of The Sword of The Spirit, Ministries International said: ‘’Private university education is an investment into the future of our youths. There is no private university that begins to give returns to the owner or proprietors for the first 10 years.
“It is a long-term investment. It is very expensive to operate private universities. Anyone looking for quick money cannot get it from private university. It is about passion for the youths. We should begin to look at it from different light.
‘’The Federal Government needs to support private universities. The TETFund provision should be extended to private universities. They should be supported. The children are citizens of Nigeria and bona-fide Nigerians. They need to be supported’’.
The Bishop explained that over two million youths were qualified for admission into tertiary institutions annually but the carriage capacity of all the universities in the country was less than one million, hence the need to take the remnants off the street.
Also speaking, Oyo state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Professor Salihu Adelabu, expressed the readiness of the government to partner individuals and organizations with good initiatives to improve the educational sector.
He lauded the citing of the proposed Zoe University in Ipapo in Itẹsiwaju Local Government area of Oyo State noted that the Oke-Ogun zone could now boast of the first private university, adding that the initiative would attract rapid development to the zone.
“Establishing private university is like draining your pocket to develop the brains of the younger generation in the society because it is not profit making. The greatest legacy you can bequeath in the society, humanity, on our youths and children is nothing but sound and qualitative education.
“You don’t need any rocket science that somebody looking for money would now go and set up a university in Ipapo, we have places like Abuja, we have places like Lagos, but going back to Ipapo truly is a divine decision ”
The visioner of the University, Dr. Bamidele Ayanlowo explained that the Zoe University sought to groom the Nigerian youths through practical based skills to discourage unemployment and over reliance on certificates amongst university graduates so as to meet the expectations of the society.
“We want the students not just to cram information on their heads, we want them to practicalize what they have learnt, so we want our engineers to be able to repair generators, repair cars with confidence. The society expect that once you’re called Engineer, you can repair and handle many things, so we would expose our students to practical skills.”
The event was graced by the Ẹlẹ́yinpó of Ìpàpó, Ọba Yekeen Abioye who lauded the ingenuity of the initiative and pledged their supports to make it a reality.
