The Acting Vice-Chancellor, New City University (NCU), a privately-owned university in Aiyetoro, Ogun State, Professor Joseph Abayomi Olagunju has said all is set for the commencement of the 2025/2026 academic session by November 30th, 2025.
He disclosed this during an exclusive interview with Brand Visibility at the university campus on Monday.
He added that the 19 fully accredited programmes by the National Universities Commission (NUC) which cut across Faculty of Science and Computing, Faculty of Basic Medical and Allied Medical Sciences, Faculty of Social and Management Sciences and Faculty of Communication and Media Studies are fully equipped in readiness for the academic session.
Prof. Olagunju, a Professor of Medical Biochemistry and a distinguished Professor of Lagos State University (LASU) assured students offered admission of the best as the university intended not to be a copy of the older ones.
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“They do not expect to have congested classrooms as you find in most universities because everything done here has been planned in a manner that will give the best more especially in terms of facilities.”
Citing underfunding as major problem affecting university education, Prof Olagunju said that the promoter and Chancellor of the university is always ready to make funds available therefore the university will continue to have best infrastructures to sustain the programmes in order to deliver quality education.
The Acting VC added that aside the school environment, which is well furnished in readiness for the academic session, the most important thing is to recruit qualified people who have international exposure.
“The university will develop its own curriculum now that the NUC has allowed us 30% leverage. So, the import of what I am saying is that this university wants to develop its own unique programmes. Identify people that will execute the uniqueness of these programmes; so that it won’t just be a poor copy of the existing ones.
“That does not mean that there will not be cross-fertilization of ideas. We will partner with the universities to ensure that we actualize our own dream of being a unique university and not a poor copy of other universities,” he added.
He also emphasized on the university students’ leveraging on entrepreneurial skills, adding that it will however be in tandem with the NUC guideline, which is entrepreneurial studies must be subject-based.
“For example, if you are a nursing undergraduate student, the entrepreneurial aspect should be the one that will be able to apply to your nursing practice. If you want to study MBBS, the entrepreneurial aspect of your training should be such that you can apply to your profession.”
The Acting VC explained that tuition fees is affordable with the university putting in place a flexible payment plan to make it very convenient for parents to pay.
The promoter of the university, Mr. Akin Akingbesote said the establishment of NCU was inspired by the determination to contribute to development of education as well as the country.
He added that the establishment of the university was born out of the desire to help reduce the burden of non-availability of spaces for applicants seeking admission. So, my desire was that we could also contribute our quota to reduce this problem. That’s why I had the focus to set up a university.
Congratulating both the parents and students offered admission, Akingbesote assured parents of a safe and conducive learning environment with 24-hour electricity, internet access and good security network.
“I want to congratulate the students and remind them that they are coming into a highly disciplined environment because education is a weapon of liberation, but to benefit from it, you must obey the rules.
“They are potential global ambassadors, hence they must be ready to work hard to achieve greatness.
He was optimistic that the university will be one of the top-notch in the country, adding that the capacity of the university is 1000 students.
He commended the government on the introduction of students’ loan but advised on the need to generalise it to cover private university students too.
“It shouldn’t be limited to government schools. A student is a student nobody knows tomorrow, maybe a private university student will one day drive the economy. All students should have equal rights to access student loans.”
The Director of Corporate Communication and Protocols of the university, Dr. Sam Adebowale said that the university is ready to fit in to the three major areas of university education.
He added that in terms of teaching, the university is fully ready to make a difference more especially in the provision of infrastructures, good learning environment and qualified personnel to do the job especially when talking about raising a new ambassador for the country.
“In the area of research, the university will not compromise on that as this is what singles out a university, based on their core relevance. And for community service, we have put everything in place,” he said.
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