New Al-Hikmah Varsity Vice Chancellor States Vision, Mission For The Institution

By Steve Oni, Ilorin

The new Vice Chancellor, Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, Kwara state, Prof. Noah Yusuf, has disclosed that he came to Al-Hikmah University as its fifth Vice Chancellor with a clear focus and well formulated vision and mission statement.

This, he stated, was to pilot the affairs of the institution in such a manner that “by the time I shall be completing my tenure, the University will not only rank among the best in Nigeria, it will also be among the high ranking universities across the globe.”

Addressing journalists at the NUJ Press Centre, Ilorin on Tuesday,the VC said he would to tap on the existing potential and, through purposeful leadership, introduce innovations geared towards achieving results in areas where the University is currently experiencing challenges, adding that he would direct his immediate focus to consolidating the achievements recorded by his predecesso, through dynamic, transparent, consultative and purposeful leadership.

He said: “I shall tackle the current challenges of the University and explore ways of forging new areas of achievements and groundbreaking feats. With the current competitions among the ever increasing Private Universities in Nigeria, a University which must stand the test of time must introduce innovations and consult widely and appropriately, with critical stakeholders, among whom are the Proprietors, Boards of Trustees, Governing Councils and the Managements, Senate, parents, staff and, even, students as well as people in the University’s immediate community.

“The philosophy of my administration shall be the attainment of global best practices in all aspects of the University – governance, academic activities, staff welfare, student welfare and community relations. The lecturers shall be well motivated to engage in effective lecture delivery and research to meet global standard geared towards producing well disciplined, industrious and patriotic graduates who shall be blessings to the Nigerian nation. Other staff of the University shall be mobilised towards achieving this corporate goal through the provision of leadership by example and putting in place a virile and practicable reward and sanction systems, as required.

“In summary, I will run an inclusive administration which will motivate all staff to see themselves as being critical to the overall success of the University and gear them to giving their best to the institution.”

Realising that the institution would require inflow of funds, grants and other financial support for its capital and recurrent expenditures, Prof.Yusuf said they would consolidate on the existing sources of funding and embark on aggressive alternative funding measures and strategies by establishing revenue-yielding programmes such as Masters in Business Administration (M.B.A.), Masters in Public Administration (MPA), Postgraduate Diploma and Certificate in Computer Processing and Engineering (P.G.D.C.P.E.), all targeting the academically-inclined working population within and outside the University environment.

He said the programmes would be made flexible to involve weekend lectures to reflect the busy work schedules of the target applicants, adding that the University’s Computer Centre, currently under construction, would be speedily completed to serve as an accredited centre for external examinations and other IT-related functions that can generate revenue for the University.

Prof. Yusuf also stated that he would improve the revenue base of the University through establishing linkages with other national and international Universities and Academic Centres for partnership, collaboration and project funding, saying his practical experience as Director, Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ilorin, “where we collaborated with relevant agencies in the funding of some Centre’s activities and programmes, has shown that this measure can yield results if properly explored.”

On IT, he said: “Organization’s, institutions and nations that are at the top are those that have wholly embraced and fully complied with Information Technology (IT). Al-Hikmah University shall now witness IT upgrade and revolution in all Units and Departments. The current Covid 19 pandemic has clearly shown us that no organisation can achieve much, if anything, unless it has the necessary IT facilities and its personnel have the knowledge to deploy them. While providing the required leadership, I shall also tap on the available resources in the University and solicit for external ones to make the University fully IT compliant.