Former Chief of Army Staff Lt. General Theophilus Danjuma has said poor university funding is a universal problem that is not peculiar to Nigeria.
He made the observation at his decoration as a UI@75 Ambassador Extraordinaire in Lagos.
Gen. Danjuma said even America, the supposedly wealthiest country in the world, does not fund universities but rather gives loans to students.
He added that any public university that did not source for funds in addition to the subvention received from the government would die.
He hailed the management of the University of Ibadan for the efforts being made to revitalise the university.
He, however, cautioned that the management’s laudable aspirations must be gradually achieved through strategic planning.
Gen. Danjuma, who was elated, thanked the UI@75 Anniversary Committee for the great honour and wished the university success in its efforts.
He said he would assist the university further after he was presented with a list of the institution’s thematic projects by the Chairman of the UI@75 Anniversary Committee, Prof. Peter Olapegba.
Gen. Danjuma was supported by his wife, Senator Daisy, who, would herself, be conferred with the honorary degree of Doctor of Law by the University of Ibadan during its 2023 Convocation and 75th Foundation Day slated for 17 November.
Gen. Danjuma, a 2020 Honorary Doctor of Letters Graduate (D. Litt. 2020) of the UI, is the founder of TY Danjuma Foundation, which had donated N342 million towards the upgrading of the Akinkugbe Kidney Centre as a Centre of Excellence in research, diagnosis and treatment of renal complications.
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Kayode Adebowale, reiterated that the UI, which began as a College of the University of London in 1948 with 103 students in three faculties, today has over 42,000 students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in 18 faculties and a School of Business.
